Mute Darkness
by Nobody is Somebody
Summary: I have the lamest super power ever and now I have to leave my friends to go to some fancy, hightech school. Not to mention I hate my black hair and my handmedown clothes I got from my older sister. R AND R PLZ! CHAPTER 7 UP! FINALLY!
1. Getting to know me

_This is the story of a girl_

_Who cried a river and drowned the whole world_

_While she looks so sad in photographs_

_I absolutely love her_

_When she smiles_

_How many days in a year_

_She woke up with hope and only found tears_

_I can be so insincere_

_Making the promises, never for real_

_As long as she stands there waiting_

_Wearing the holes in the soles of her shoes_

_How many days disappear_

_You look in the mirror so how do you choose_

_Her clothes never wear as well the next day_

_And her hair never falls quite the same way_

_You never seem to run out of things to say_

_This is the story of a girl_

_Who cried a river and drowned the whole world_

_While she looks so sad in photographs_

_I absolutely love her_

_When she smiles_

_How many lovers would stay_

_Just to put up with this shit day after day_

_How did we wind up this way_

_Watching our mouths for the words that we'll say_

_As long will you stand here waiting_

_Wearing the holes in the soles of her shoes_

_How do we get there today_

_Walking too far for the price of her shoes_

_The clothes never wear as well the next day_

_And her hair never falls quite the same way_

_You never seem to run out of things to say_

_This is the story of a girl_

_Who cried a river and drowned the whole world_

_While she looks so sad in photographs_

_I absolutely love her_

_When she smiles_

I have the lamest super power ever and now I have to leave my friends to go to some fancy, high-tech school. Not to mention I hate my black hair and my hand-me-down clothes I got from my older sister.

It was on my birthday when I received these dreadful powers. I almost exposed my mother. She had a 'talk' with me soon after that to keep her secret safe. I hated life in general, too many happy people. There just weren't enough insults one person could give before you get bored of them.

"Hey, Witch, let's go!" my sister yelled. I forgot to mention, my sister is only my half-sister. My mom was known as the Witch and so my sister called me that. I knew my mom was downstairs, frowning at my sister. I could feel her dark power, yeah that was my power. I could sense what other people could do, yippee. Note the sarcasm.

I didn't even care if I missed the first day of school, but I knew if I didn't Mom would be flying me up, fake fever or no fake fever. Life sucks. I opened the drawers to my dresser and found a pink t-shirt with a monkey on it saying "not listening." I threw on some jeans and walked downstairs.

As I had guessed, my mom was frowning at my sister and I was the cause. My dad was already gone, no big surprise. He had to go to work early and work until the late hours of the day. Sometimes I wonder if my dad is actually working, or trying to bring another member to our half-family. I didn't care either way, it never really felt like I was related to him recently anyway.

"Hey Witch, we're late. Let's go!" Sam, that's my sister's name, grabbed my arm and dragged me to the bus stop. I missed breakfast, but I never really eat. I'm not anorexic or anything, I just don't like to eat that much. Food has tasted worse and worse ever since Mom cooked for us. Some say practice makes you better. In my Mom's case, practice means blackened cereal. She had even burned water once. Not boil, but literally burned the water. Don't ask me how, but it's possible.

The bus pulled up and I realized I forgot my books. I was going to say something, but Sam threw my backpack at me and walked on. I just shrugged and slung it over my shoulder. The bus driver seemed annoying, so I sat in the back. I sat behind a girl wearing almost all purple and a boy wearing blindingly yellow and white. The girl could shape-shift into a guinea pig and the boy could glow, big whoop.

A boy walked on and the bus driver immediately started sucking up to him. He could fly and he had super strength. I figured he must be the famous son of Jetstream and the Commander. Will Stronghold, part of the Stronghold Three if I remember right. He saved the school from an evil villain called Pain Killer or Royal Killer or something like that. I really didn't care either way since it didn't matter to me.

Will walked over to a girl wearing too much green to be normal and sat down. She could control plants, great. I always hated flowers ever since the accident. I'm not allowed to talk about it, but it involves me, killing, and being sent to court. It wasn't pretty, but I didn't get arrested. So, hey, that works, right?

Another girl got on; she looked like the perfect, living Barbie doll. I almost wanted to vomit. Her brown hair waved gently as she walked down the bus. Most of the boys were staring at her intently, probably imagining her asking them out. Several of them stood and asked if she would take their spot. What suck-ups. That technopath just stuck up her nose at them and kept walking. She sat next to a boy who seemed more than happy to see her. They kissed, making my stomach churn. Maybe I will vomit after all.

I rolled my eyes at the Barbie doll and turned to my backpack. I wondered if I had remembered to put my Thomas Covenant book in it. I found it and pulled it out. It was the third book in the first trilogy and was right in the middle of a war. Suddenly the bus sped up and flew off of an unfinished bridge as seatbelts fell around me. I, of course, tried my hardest not to scream my head off and dropped my book. I had a vice-grip on the edges of the seat and wouldn't let go unless someone handed me a parachute. I wasn't going to risk my life for a lost book.

Except it didn't drop, it flew over me and hit the kid behind me. I could imagine the only copy of a very old book being burned up by the pyro behind me. I didn't even want to look. The bus landed roughly as I got over the feeling of nausea. Thankfully, I hadn't eaten before I got on, now I never will. Well, at least until I get used to it.

I zipped up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I waited for the line of students to thin before I tried to get my escape off of the small, cramped bus. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned. The pyro was wearing black and seemed to hate life in general. I wondered why he tapped my shoulder when he held out my book. I grabbed it and gave him a thankful smile. He just nodded and left.

I followed a crowd of unfocused power to the doors of the school. I glanced over the edge a few times and saw the incredibly long drop. Something told me that I should stay away from the edge. I'll add a big duh to the end of that. I looked around for my sister, but she was already gone. I frowned as some boys walked up to us. One of them could stretch and the other could run at high speeds. I thought that was kind of an oxymoron because the boy that could run happened to be one of the fattest people I knew.

"Alright everyone, you need to pay the entrance fee for new students. It's fifteen dollars so pay up!" The one that could stretch smirked. I looked down at my pocket and pulled out my bracelet. It was a small silver one with a butterfly charm on it. I don't remember where I had gotten it, but I can't remember a moment without it. I put my hand in my pocket again and fingered the pocket knife and chain I kept in there.

My sister had warned me that some of the boys were dangerous, and I was prepared. I wasn't planning on killing them, but if they wanted to hurt me, I had a weapon. I wanted to pull it out and take out the detachable needle, but resisted. I was a pro at throwing weapons. It was my dad's idea, he wanted me to be tough since– Well let's not talk about that.

With the needle, I could paralyze someone for around half a day, give or take a couple hours. I knew the pressure points. I knew their weak spots. I knew how to defend myself without a weapon too, but it just wasn't the same knowing they underestimated me. I always defeated them easily after that. The chain was my non-lethal weapon. It was extremely useful in not killing anyone, but it took too long to put together in my pocket, so I kept the pocket knife, just in case.

"Lash, leave them alone." It was the Barbie from before. He backed off without taking anyone's money and went inside the school. Wow, guess he works for her then. She showed us to the gym, which I wasn't surprised at all to see it looked exactly like a normal gym. I started to wonder if this school was just a regular school with hover technology when a stage appeared from the floor. A white meteor flew over us and landed on the stage. I didn't pay any attention to her though. I didn't care what she said, I just wanted to get this day over and done with. She finished and with the gasps of most of the freshman year, she took off in meteor form.

A coach appeared on the stage and shouted. His name was Coach Boomer, which was a good name for him considering how loud he was. He yelled at all the students and said something about power placement or whatever. I heard the names of kids being called up and they walked on stage to show their power.

I was actually impressed by some of the kids, they could do some damage if they wanted to. One of the boys, whatever his name was, could turn into a person he touched. I took note of that and decided to watch him more carefully, just in case he wanted to impersonate me. Several other kids had lame powers like turning different colors and one of them had the power of flatulence. In other words, he could fart at will. It was disgusting. I thought of vomiting again, just to get out going up there myself.

I almost jumped when I heard my name called. What was I supposed to do to show my power? I wanted to throw up so badly and get sent to the nurse's office, but it never came. Curse my sister for not letting me eat. Coach Boomer bellowed at me to show my power, but I couldn't.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. I'm mute. It means I don't talk, ever. It happened after the– we'll just call it the start of all my problems. He boomed at me again, but I shook my head. Not a lot of people knew I was mute. It was kind of funny to watch their reactions when they found out after spending most of their time just thinking I was quiet or something.

"Car!" The coach pressed a button and a car fell from the ceiling. I dropped to the ground fast enough and it landed, inches away from my face. I still didn't make a sound, props for me. I used a sort of sign language to say that I could sense other people's powers, but he didn't understand. Once again, I forgot to tell you something, two things actually. One: I'm very forgetful, big surprise there, right? Two: My parents refused to teach me sign language and refused me of ever being mute. They just called it shyness or being quiet.

I quickly ran down and grabbed my backpack where I pulled out my extra notebook. I grabbed a pencil and wrote down what I needed to say. "I'm mute. I don't talk. I can sense other people's power." It said so much, I know, but I was in a hurry. Coach Boomer just nodded and gave me the thumbs up sign. I quickly turned a page and wrote, "I'm mute, not deaf!"

He seemed to get it. He told me to go to the office and I left happily. I already knew what the kids could do so it wasn't surprising to see them. I found the office after several minutes of searching. I couldn't ask anyone, remember? Although, asking someone would have helped me find it. I walked in and she looked at me.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at power placement?" She asked.

I turned another page and started writing. "I'm mute. Coach sent me here to talk to you about it."

"Mute? Oh dear. That's going to be hard for your classes. I'm afraid we'll have to do something about that," Mrs. Powers (I read her name plaque that was on her desk) frowned. "We can't do anything for you today, but as long as you have that notebook it should be alright."

I wrote, "When is lunch?" Hey, I'm hungry! I missed breakfast and it was almost noon. Wow, time flies when you're watching students show off their super powers.

"The bell will ring soon enough. Would you like me to get you someone who can help you find the classrooms?" 'Oh great,' I thought, 'I get misunderstood and pitied.' "Or here, I'll make you a pass so you can make it to your classes without being late. I'll put in a note saying you're mute too."

Maybe I was wrong after all. I can be late to classes and everyone will think I have some sort of brain problem. 'I'm not retard! I'm mute!' I yelled mentally. I almost wished I was psychic so I could be mute and heard at the same time.

The bell rang and I stood to go as she said, "There's the bell." I resisted writing a swear word and an insult at the obvious comment in my notebook and left. I found a seat at an abandoned table after filling my tray up with food. I started eating when the pyro from the bus walked up to me.

"This is my table," he said gruffly. I just shook my head and went back to eating. I did not want to get into a fight on my first day. "I said this is my table, move." I could have chosen the smart person's way of handling this and walked away, but he was ticking me off and I was hungry. I balled my free hand into a fist but was interrupted.

"Warren, chill! We can have a guest at our table," the girl wearing too much green walked over. I wondered if this posse would contain her boyfriend and as I had guessed, only seconds later he sat down next to Greenie. Warren sat down opposite of me and watched me carefully.

"What's your name?" Greenie asked. I just turned towards her and gave her one of my best leave-me-alone looks. It didn't faze her. She just smiled at me.

I flipped back to a page and held it up. "I'm mute," it said.

Again, it didn't faze this cheery girl. "I'm Layla, this is Will, and that's Warren. Hopefully, Zach and Magenta will be joining us. Ethan's sick today so he can't." Sure enough, the two who sat in front of me in the bus sat down at the table.

"So, what is your name?" Will asked.

I looked through all my pages and realized I hadn't written it down on any. Normally, it was the first thing I would write. I quickly jotted it down and held it up so everyone could see, "Crystal."

"Crystal, that's a pretty name," Layla remarked. I shrugged and began eating again. The group talked without me, catching up on events missed over the summer. I picked up my tray to go when Warren did the same. I gave him a deadly look and walked in front of him.

I set down my tray and felt someone grab my ass. I immediately sensed stretchiness from the touch and turned around. Warren seemed surprised, but I pushed past him. I stomped over to Lash and slapped him before he realized I had come. I walked off after that with the whole cafeteria laughing at him, give or take a couple of students.

I went over to my locker and gave my death look to anyone daring to stare at me. I opened it and pulled out some extra weight from my backpack. It felt good to have it lighter, and at least I didn't have to worry about scoliosis.

I went to my class where a dorky teacher with a balding head waited for me. Once again, good luck triumphs and he let me pass for the first night's homework because of my 'ailment.' That's how he put it anyway. Who cares, I get out of homework.

I didn't pay attention during the class and instead noticed some of the sidekicks, or as the teacher called us, hero support, that had enough power to be heroes. It's slightly depressing when one is misunderstood for not drawing up enough energy the first time, but I'm used to misunderstandings. I'm a mute, don't forget.

When the bell rang I nearly jumped for joy. I was happy to get out of that class. I was so happy that I forgot my note from Mrs. Powers. I didn't know if I should run back for it or if I should just say I lost it. I went with the lost it idea to avoid having to go into a room with the wacko teacher alone. He probably wanted to have a "heart-to-heart talk" about me being mute, but I've accepted my loss of voice and I don't care.

I made it to the end of the school without using too many pages in my notebook. I might actually be able to use it for more than one week! That'll be a first. I put it in my backpack thinking no one will talk to me on the bus. I shut my locker and started to the buses. It's a good thing I have a bad name already and people don't want to talk to me. I felt a hand grab my shoulder tightly as I thought that and added, maybe not.

I broke free from Lash's grasp to see Fatty standing next to him. He took off at high speeds and ran around me. I didn't realize what he was doing until it was too late and I felt my oxygen getting short. I took in a deep breath ran towards the edge. He moved with me like he was a moon orbiting a planet, except he was going around something smaller than he and much faster. I suppose it was more like Jupiter circling Pluto at high speeds. Either way, Pluto was doomed. Unfortunately, I was Pluto, and running out of air.

I let out my breath, but I couldn't get enough back in. I fell to the ground and reached for my pocket. I wanted to pull out my knife, but I knew it wasn't allowed on school property so I pulled out my bracelet. I kissed it for good luck and aimed. With one flick, I managed to use Speed's power against him. The butterfly charm hit him directly on the neck, and with the high speeds, it hit him hard.

He flew into a wall and I took in a deep breath. I was thankful and walked over to grab my bracelet when Lash grabbed it first. "What's this? How can a little piece of jewelry take out Speed?" Lash asked. Ha! I was right when I guessed his name was Speed! I dropped my backpack and prepared to fight. I wanted my bracelet back, no matter what.

Lash seemed to like that idea and prepared to fight as well. I noticed him underestimating me already as he left a big opening for a strike purposely. Or maybe it wasn't purposely. This guy just didn't know how to fight. I walked slowly over to him, not lowering my fists once.

He swung the first punch and as my dad had always said, "Don't start fights, end them," I planned to. I grabbed his arm and guessed where his elbow might be. He had stretched so it was difficult to tell, but I smashed into what I thought was right and he winced in pain from his dead arm. I don't suggest you trying to do that at home though, if you don't hit it right, that person may never get his arm to move right again. If you think about my predicament, that's pretty much what I was hoping for.

"What the hell? Why can't I move my arm?" Lash exclaimed. He seemed angered by this and threw another slow punch. I dodged it easily and ran up to his face. I punched him in the nose as his moving arm came back to strike me. I hit him on the shoulder and he dropped my bracelet. I walked over and picked it up as he fell to the ground. I frowned at my sleeper move as it took time to take effect. That was bad if I was in a life or death situation. If a guy had a gun and actually knew what was happening, then I would've been in trouble.

That had to be the most inconvenient time for Mrs. Powers to come. She seemed more than upset, but she hid it from her voice well. "I know you're handicapped (I'm not, being mute isn't a handicap. I chose to become mute so I wouldn't have to say anything to the stupid people. It just happened to start when a death occurred. And it's because of dumb people like that who think it is a handicap and spread that belief throughout the world) but you know the rules and fighting in the halls is breaking them. Report directly to detention!"

I nodded and left, wondering where detention was. I guessed that it would be near the office and was right, thankfully. A door marked 'detention' on it was locked and I waited impatiently for Mrs. Powers to come.

I hid my smile from her as she walked into a room at the other end of the hall, into the nurse's office. She was carrying Lash, probably because Speed was too heavy for her to move first, or because he had his head stuck in a wall. She walked over to me as another teacher carried, (or struggled to carry in better terms,) Speed into the office.

"I am very upset by this manner of behavior! You will come here after school for the rest of this week and the next." Mrs. Powers opened the door and practically pushed me inside. She flew off to her office where she would write it down in my report. I actually smiled as getting into a fight on my first day without trying was a new record. Sad, but it was true.

I looked around the white room and frowned as Warren looked up at me. I had forgotten my backpack in the hallway, so much for a conversation. I realized I couldn't sense his pyro powers and guessed the room nullified people's powers. It was better for me because mine were useless in fighting. Okay, not totally useless because it does help to know what you're fighting, but they didn't have powers in here either so it didn't matter.

"What'd you do?" Warren asked. He didn't notice that I didn't have my notebook or pencil. I just looked at him and sat down in one of the desks. He sighed and pulled out a pencil and paper for me to write on.

I wrote, "Fight with Lash. He's in the nurse's office."

Warren seemed impressed. "Did you take out Speed too?" he asked.

I wrote, "His head went through the wall and he'll have a butterfly imprint on his neck for at least two days." I showed him the bracelet and I think he was even more impressed. He actually smiled at me.

"I'm impressed! (I feel a told you so is necessary.) You took on Lash and Speed without getting hurt," Warren remarked. I smiled proudly at the praise. "How much detention did you get?"

I wrote, "Two weeks. This rest of this one and the next, but I think I'll get more if Lash can't move his arm in three hours."

"Can't move his arm? What'd you do?" Warren asked. He was still amazed at me.

"I knocked his pressure point really hard, but I think I might have missed and caused permanent damage," I wrote. Warren looked like he was going to say something, but he stopped and said something else.

"Have you heard of the Paper Lantern before?" Warren asked.

I nodded. It was a Chinese restaurant I had gone to when my parents were moving in. We hadn't bought anything for our fridge and somehow, my sister convinced them to eat out. It was one of those rare occasions, but it was fun.

"Meet me there at nine, okay?" Warren asked. I didn't answer. Instead, an infuriated Mrs. Powers walked in with my mom. My left hand lifted to my temples almost automatically and I hid my eyes from view. My mom had that power over me to make me feel in a worse condition than I really was.

"Ms. Thomason here was fighting in the hallway. Lash is still unconscious and Speed has a butterfly mark on his neck, right on the pressure point," Mrs. Powers stated. "Excuse me." Mrs. Powers walked out of the room and I noticed her pulling something out of her purse before the door shut.

"Tal, what am I going to do with you?" Mom asked. I forgot to mention, my nickname's Tal, but only my mom calls me that. I frowned and stood to protest. I made my sign language that, thankfully, my mom understood. I made a circle quickly and put my hands around my throat. I made a flicking movement and breathed deeply. Then, I exaggerated a dodge and grabbed Lash's imaginary arm. I showed how I smashed into Lash's arm and exaggerated another dodge. I punch the air in front of my face and then made a sleeper hold move on my imaginary opponent.

"Even if he started it, you can't go fighting every person you see. Now, let's go home," Mom ordered. She turned and walked out of the room. I took that time to right a Y down on the page and handed it to Warren before Mrs. Powers noticed. She walked into through the door as I followed my mom out of the detention room. She flew me home and said I would be grounded indefinitely if Lash's arm didn't move. Dad seemed more impressed than upset until Mom elbowed him in the ribs.

He chided me gently and warned me about hitting pressure points. I knew he would be up at my room later to try and get the whole story how I single handedly defeated two boys. I wondered if I should mention he grabbed my ass earlier that day as I climbed up the stairs to my room. I fell onto my sheets of sky blue and smiled. I pulled out my journal from my pillow case and started writing.

I waited impatiently for the clock to turn eight-fifty. I knew it would only take me ten minutes to get there if I ran and it was already eight-thirty. I threw some of my money in my pocket and grabbed a notebook from my desk. I finished writing in my journal as the time finally came.

I opened my window quietly and slipped onto the first-story roof. I slid to the edge and looked down at the lighted room below me. I guessed my dad was in there as I listened to sports. I crawled further along and listened as my sister talked on the phone to her long distance boyfriend. I moved just three feet more and jumped. I landed easily and ducked under the window as Sam looked out. She shrugged and turned back to her conversation. I took that chance to make a run for it.

I made it to the Paper Lantern just in time. Warren was outside and standing by a motorcycle. I guessed it was his and walked over. I waved and opened my notebook. I wrote down, "Nice bike."

He read it and nodded. "Thanks, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a ride."

I wrote, "I can't, I'm supposed to be grounded right now."

"Oh, that sucks," Warren sighed. "Well, I wanted to ask you how you got mute and I knew it wouldn't be right to ask you in detention."

I wrote, "Its okay," and smiled at him. "I'm not allowed to talk about it according to the court, but I really don't see why it matters."

"Court?" Warren asked.

"Yeah, this guy grabbed me off the street and I hit him on the pressure point. I accidentally killed him because an artery to the brain got pinched by his spine when I hit him and his brain didn't get enough blood to keep it going." I showed it to him and it took him only five seconds to read all of it.

"That's horrible! You had to go to court for that?" Warren asked. I thought, 'Duh, I already said that,' but just nodded.

I took back the notebook and wrote, "I was set free because it was self-defense. That's when Dad started teaching me about pressure points and what would happen."

"At least you know how to defend yourself now." I noticed that he frowned and closed his eyes. I figured he was mentally cursing himself for saying something that dumb, but how should I know.

I wrote, "I have to go." He nodded and asked if I wanted a ride. I nodded and wrote down my address. I got behind him on the motorcycle as he pulled out an extra helmet. He helped me latch it and I blushed because I hadn't worn a helmet in a long time and felt foolish. It was a short drive, but I wanted it to go on forever, fearing my parents' reaction to my runaway. He pulled up to it as my mom ran out the door. I had wished so desperately to have invisibility at that moment.

"Tal! I was so worried! I went up to your room, but you weren't there. Who's he? Did he hurt you? Tal, where'd you go?" I looked at Warren desperately and he (thank God) answered some of the questions.

"I'm Warren. She went to the Paper Lantern with me. I thought it was a good idea, I'm sorry if you were worried." Warren gave me a look saying, "You owe me" before waving goodbye and driving away. My mom was hugging my tightly as I tried to wriggle a hand free to wave back. I couldn't get free fast enough and he turned a corner as I waved.

"Tal, you are so grounded! Two weeks for running out without permission and another for practically hospitalizing two boys!" I thought it was slightly ironic, I got two weeks for leaving the house. My parents both know what I can do to people who bother me, and I only got one week for using those skills against someone. I really thought it should be different, but it didn't matter. I was stuck at home for practically a month.

I went upstairs and closed my window before falling into my blankets and falling asleep. I was extremely happy to know that I didn't have to do homework, but I was dismayed by the clock. In bright red letters, it said 9:30. It was still early for me to be tired, and yet I was. 'Odd,' I thought as I drifted off.


	2. The Onslaught

_DISCLAIMER: I Don't OwnAny of TheSongs in my Story(Which Rock!) Or Sky High. And although I do wish I did because I would be the person who everyone wants to write about, I'm not._

_Give me a word, give me a sign._

_Show me where to love, tell me what will I find_

_What will I find_

_Let me in the crowd, fly my in the sky_

_Show me where to love, but tell me, what will I find_

_What will I find_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_And whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Love is in the water, love is in the air_

_Show me where to love but tell me, will I be there_

_Will I be there_

_Teach me how to speak, teach me how to share_

_Tell me where to go, tell me will I be there_

_Will I be there_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_And whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Give me a word, give me a sign._

_Show me where to love, but tell me what will I find_

_What will I find_

_Lay me on the ground, fly me in the sky_

_Show me where to love, but tell me what will I find_

_What will I find_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_And whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_Whoa! Haven't let your light shine down_

_I'm gonna let it shine! I'm gonna let it shine!_

_Never let a light, shine on me_

_I said a hey yeah! Hey yeah!_

_Never let a light, shine on me_

_I'm gonna shine_

_Shine on me! Shine on me!  
Come on and shine!_

I woke to my alarm clock playing that old song. It was pretty good, considering the band has most likely disbanded by now. I quickly hit the snooze button and fell back onto my pillow. I heard Sam yelling up at me, but I was tired.

"Witch, if you don't get down here right now, you'll miss the bus!" she yelled. I wondered if she had Coach Boomer's powers until she burst into my room. "What are you doing? It's time to go! Get dressed!" Normally, she would be downstairs, where I could tune her out and pretend it was the washing machine.

I moaned as I got out of bed and pulled out a white t-shirt with a rose on it. I pulled on some clean jeans and ran to the bus stop. Sam handed me a brush and I quickly ran though my hair as the bus pulled up. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked on.

I found Magenta and Zach. I waved to them as I passed, but I didn't want to sit that close to the bus driver. He seemed upset for some reason today and that meant annoyingly strict. I sat towards the back which actually was a bad idea because I sat in front of Speed and Lash. Lash's arm seemed to be moving, but Speed was wearing a turban of gauze on his head and Lash seemed drowsy. Whoops, guess I messed up my sleeper hold on Stretchy. At least that explains why it took so long to take effect.

They didn't notice me, thank God, and were conspiring on ways to take me out instead. I figured Lash must have hit his head when he fell because I was listening to every word with keen interest. They talked about getting me into detention where my powers would be nullified. I just thought it was funny that they couldn't tell what my power was and what wasn't.

"Then we could trap her! It would be perfect, but how do we get her detention?" Speed asked. Now this was interesting. I already had detention and these two dim-wits still hadn't noticed me. I wondered if I should get them into detention just to teach them a lesson, but decided just to foil every attempt at them trying to get me there. That way I can piss them off and have fun!

"We could spray paint the lockers and leave the can in her locker," Speed suggested. 'And then I can have it dusted for fingerprints,' I thought.

"No, we need something bigger. Let's have her shove kids into lockers!" Lash smirked. 'And then I could make them tell the truth and Lash would be in more trouble because he tried to frame me,' I added. Wow, these guys really didn't know how to frame someone.

"What about trapping Mrs. Powers' desk?" Speed suggested. Finally! Some genius through the dumb!

"I guess we'll have to find Jason, stupid freshman," Lash smirked again. I didn't have to look to tell what he was doing. The seatbelts lowered over everyone, but this time I was more determined to hold back the scream because Lash and Speed would notice me if I didn't. You just wouldn't get used to it if you screamed your head off every time, especially if you were to be attacked while screaming.

Some of the other students had the same idea, or something close to it, and didn't scream either. One of the students had a very hard time keeping down his breakfast. The first thought that crossed my mind was, 'I'm not cleaning that up!' Thankfully, he didn't puke and nobody had to clean up that would-be disgusting mess.

"I have an idea, we could trap Mrs. Powers' desk with puke!" Lash seemed especially excited with this, unlike me who hated the thought of it. How was I supposed to de-trap a desk filled with puke? But how were they supposed to blame it on me? Maybe they were as stupid as I had first thought. And I'm still unnoticed. Wow, what losers!

I had always thought of them as smart, oh well, not really, but smarter at least. I wanted to know if they were that stupid when the bus landed and I stood. I got in line, not waiting for them to spot me right away. I heard them talking about me, but I didn't hear anything that said I was in front of them the whole time. It was more like shushing and whispers of saying, "Be quiet or she'll hear our plan."

I wondered if they had seen me in front of them during the bus ride or not when I walked off. I walked into the school without interruption from them and made my way to my locker. I opened it and dropped off some books. I grabbed my extra notebook and shut my locker to see a boy hiding behind it.

"I was wondering, well, if you, uh, wanted to, uh," The boy smacked his forehead and walked away. I watched him for a second longer, wondering what it was about when the bell rang. I didn't even know who he was and he just half asked me something. What the hell? Was he trying to ask me out or something?

I made my way to my class, being only three minutes late and took a seat in the front. There weren't any other open seats in the back so I took the farthest one back, in the second row. I actually paid attention to this class because the teacher was talking about hero history. He talked about my mother briefly, I suppose it was because she had been a hero before turning to villains and then back again when she met my dad after Sam's mom had divorced him and went evil before turning back to good when she met another man who turned evil after she left him. Wow, headache, but I'll get over it. I guess my family is filled with indecision, oh well.

"Crystal, would you like to tell us the dates when the Witch worked with Fire Storm?" The teacher hadn't gotten the note saying I'm mute and I quickly wrote down the dates in my notebook. I showed her them and she seemed impressed. It wasn't like my mom hadn't told me how much of a jerk Fire Storm was in the first place, but she had told me the dates on when he was the most hot-headed, including the day she left him. Then again, it would make sense for a fire freak to be hot-headed, but not full of himself like he normally was.

Off subject, getting back to class, the teacher nodded in agreement when I showed her the page that said I'm mute. She asked me a few more dates and I told her them, well wrote them anyway. I only messed up twice, but one was really stupid on my part because she had asked me when the Witch turned evil. I knew it was on the fourth of July because she never let's us celebrate in public.

She had let her arch super-villain free accidentally and he caused almost half of New York to be covered in a sleeping gas. Thankfully, Suck-up (that's his name, don't ask) had sucked up all of the gas. (Thus, the name Suck-up fits, although he is a truly big suck-up.) He was out like a light for two months. Mom never let herself get over it and so she turned to the side she had lost to. It was depressing, but she learned her lesson on being evil and became a useful spy for a few years.

"Ala, when was Nightmare an unstoppable force?" The teacher had asked a small, blonde girl. She seemed really out of it and the teacher wasn't looking. I wrote down Oct. 31, 04. She saw it and answered. The teacher glanced my way, but I had already turned the page. I plastered on my most innocent face yet and smiled at her. She narrowed her eyes at me, but went back to teaching.

"Very good, Ala," the teacher murmured. She didn't like me after that, but I didn't care. She's boring anyway. She handed out little slips of paper and told us a three page report was due on the hero given. It was due on Monday. I got someone called Sage. Who the hell was that? Some guy who sat down and meditated all day long?

"Extra credit will be given to those who interview their hero," the teacher added. How was I supposed to find Sage? Where did he live, anyway?

The bell rang and I had a free period. I made my way to the library where a woman sat behind a desk. I thought it was kind of stupid to have a BE QUIET poster up. I'm mute, what am I suppose to say? I guess the other two students who come to the library probably weren't mute, but it was kind of obvious. 'Oh well,' I shrugged.

"I'm looking for a book on the hero, Sage," I wrote. She pointed to some shelves and a book started floating to her. Neat trick, but I think she would be considered sidekick, unless you want to hit some evil villain on the head with a book, probably not. The book had the title, "Sage" and I nodded. She handed it to me and I went to sit down.

I opened the book to see a list of chapters saying Sage and then having a date after it. They were all dead! I was supposed to interview a dead guy for extra credit, great. Note the sarcasm. I wanted to hit myself for even thinking the teacher would give me an easy assignment after the lie I pulled.

I walked back up to the librarian and wrote, "Living hero, Sage." She nodded and pointed at the books again. The book I was holding left my hands and was set back into its spot on the shelves while another one came towards me. It didn't have a title. Instead it had a picture on it. It was of a teenage girl who was surrounded by orbs of different elements.

I smiled and took a seat. The book was wide, very, very wide. It was like a Harry Potter book, doubled. I opened the first page to find a list of chapters. A name was next to a date of birth with an element next to that. I found Sage's name and found the page.

_Sage is a girl of the element nature. She saved the world several times with her friends, the other elements. Normally, the elements are born in different generations and it is uncommon for all of them to be born in the same generation. Sage went to school at Sky High and that's where she had met her friends._

_She had stopped several super villains with the help of plants. Her enemies were Pollute, Destroyer, Mad Hat, Crow's Eye, Witch, and Nightmare. She was able to put Pollute and Mad Hat in solitary. She convinced Witch and Crow's Eye to change from their dark nature and become good._

_She was defeated by Nightmare and no one has seen her since. It is heard that she is still in contact with her earlier friends, but the information is of questionable veracity. Nightmare was later defeated by another element and sent to solitary. The other element is unknown, but was seen before he was sent to solitary as a dark shadow during the Dream Scheme of October 31, 2004. Her last seen location was at Hope, Alabama traveling North with Ash, element water._

Damn, I had to make three pages out of three paragraphs? Pollute, Mad Hat, Destroyer, where do these people get their names? They're so dumb! What the hell am I supposed to do now? Let's see, Ash is an element water, oxymoron! Dream Scheme is what my mom foiled. Duh me! Nightmare led that! My mom is the element dark? Cool, but how am I supposed to find Sage? I'll have to ask her.

The bell rang and I left the book on the table. If I needed it, I could find it later. I made it to my class on time and it happened to be gym. I hate gym. Gym meant teamwork which meant talking, but I was mute. What a waste of time! We had to do something called speed changing. Not one of the easiest things I had ever done, but we did it like fifty times so I was able to change in less than a second. One of the boys walked out from the screen and wasn't wearing anything, so I guess I was lucky.

After that boring changing practice we got to play a game. It was called Save the Citizen. All of the grades had come while we were speed changing and had sat down along the bleachers. I took a seat and watched as people came in.

Coach Boomer appeared and started yelling out the rules. We had to save some wooden doll within the time limit and we were against 'villains,' oh, goody. Two boys were chosen first by Boomer and they seemed more than happy to be heroes. They chose two opponents to be villains and the game began.

One of the heroes could control ice. The other one could become invisible. The villains could control fire and another one could turn into a lion. It seemed pretty interesting. The invisible one I could follow because I could sense his power. He just walked up and untied the 'citizen.' The other one distracted the two by making a big display of firing blazing balls of fire at the two villains. The two villains didn't know what happened when the buzzer went off. I almost laughed.

Coach Boomer called out the winners and they picked two more people to be villains. They chose Lash and another boy with silver hair. I noticed the silver haired by seemed nervous, but he shouldn't be because his power was to become wrapped in his silver hair and turned into silver knight. The phrase, 'knight in shining armor' came to mind, but he wasn't mine. He was a sophomore, most likely going out with some other sophomore. Maybe it was because he was teamed with Lash.

The fight seemed one sided when Lash tied up the invisible boy and the silver haired boy had become impenetrable. The fire boy freaked out and jumped for the citizen. He burned the ropes, but he didn't swing from the rope so the wooden doll dropped straight into the giant food processor. He barely made it out alive and I felt myself become nervous about going down there.

Lash's teammate had collapsed and he got to pick out a new one because the silver haired boy wouldn't get up. I think he just used his power too much and he wasn't used to the drain. Lash picked Speed and the two picked out two more kids. One of the poor heroes was a girl who could only change the color of her hair and the other was like a miniature version of Wolverine.

Speed had made his vortex thing and the two were trapped in it. Mini-Wolverine jumped at the edge with his 'claws' drawn. Speed freaked and got out of the way, but didn't avert his vortex from the girl. She was about to pass out when Mini-Wolverine finally tackled Speed. He must have forgotten about Lash though because he was grabbed and thrown against the wall. He didn't move after that and the timer went off. A student ran up to him and used her healing powers to heal the poor Mini-Wolverine. He came to, thankfully, but still had to go to the nurse's office to make sure he hadn't broken anything. Wow, this is a violent game.

"Crystal and Ala," Lash smirked. Shit! That was me! Ala, wasn't that the girl from class? She could change into a raven so I guess it might work. I quickly wrote down my idea in my notebook and walked down. Some of the kids wanted to know why Lash had chosen two sidekicks, but it was bound to become interesting. I wasn't going to let him win, that's for sure.

"Got any ideas?" Ala asked. I handed her my notebook and she quickly read it. It said for her to change into a raven and bite through the rope while I distracted the two 'villains.' I hoped it would work as well as it did with Ice Man and Invisibility Boy. Hey, I could make up lame super names that were better than the old ones! Good for me, but it didn't help my situation.

The alarm went off and we began. Lash turned towards me and left Ala out of the fight. I immediately pulled out my butterfly bracelet and added a few more chains onto it. I had left my pocket knife at home because it wouldn't fit in my pocket properly. Now I had my own, homemade, chain. Maybe I had a super power of being resourceful, because this was just what I needed.

Lash flung his arms at me, but knew what I could do to them if he grabbed me. It was a diversion and Speed ran into me from the side. Before I knew where I was, I felt the cold tiling of the wall against my back. Ouch would be an understatement. I sat up and grabbed my swimming head as Ala chewed through the rope. She was halfway done which meant I had to get up.

I stood and started swinging my chain. Lash saw no threat, but he was still cautious of his arms. He flung his arms at me again and I jumped just in time to miss a powerful punch. I ran with the weight of a feather along his arm and smacked his face with my chain. I jumped off of him and landed smoothly on the floor. He turned towards me with hate in his eyes, murder on his mind, and blood trickling down his cheek. Shit, I should learn how to solve things without using too much force, or at least on how to make my strike quicker, because Lash was pissed!

I heard wind rush and side stepped as Speed ran past the spot I was standing. He turned around and I watched him as he charged towards me again. He was about to hit when Lash grabbed me and dragged me away. He threw me against a wall and again ouch wasn't enough to express how much that hurt. I had made an indent in the wall, but I was still able to stand.

I checked Ala's process, she was almost there. I dodged Speed and jumped on Lash's stretched arms again. I didn't even bother with my chain as I jumped from his shoulder and grabbed both Ala and the doll. I fell safely to the floor as the alarm went off. I was out of breath and holding a doll weighing at least fifty pounds. Ala broke free of my grasp and flew off. She changed back and spat out some small bits of rope she hadn't been able to get out of her mouth.

"That was disgusting!" Ala exclaimed. She had a slight British accent and I wondered if this was the only superpower school in the air or if she had moved to America or something. I shrugged as I pushed the doll off of me and heard everyone cheering. My chain had been thrown against a wall and Lash was gone. I guess he left to get that wound checked. It was pretty smart because I hadn't the time to clean every chain, but now I will.

"Choose your opponents," Coach Boomer yelled. Ala looked at me and we both decided to choose easy opponents. Lash and Speed were not easy and my back hurt! Ala chose a boy who could grow wings and I choose a boy who could change his size, easy, right?

A new doll dropped from the ceiling and the alarm sounded. Ala had come up with the idea that we get someone else than her to break the rope. I had grabbed my chain and prepared to fight. I changed the position of my charm so it was at the end of my chain and hopefully sharp enough to break through the rope.

The boy who could change his size became a giant and the one who could grow wings started challenging Ala to change. Ala accepted the flight challenge and took off. The giant boy reached down to me and I jumped onto his arm. I ran up it and cut the doll free. I jumped off and grabbed it before it became mulch. The alarm sounded and Ala landed next to me.

"You couldn't let it go just a little bit longer? I was going to beat that boy!" Ala sighed. "You want to pick mine?"

I shrugged and that's how it went through most of the game. We never lost, but I was so tired that I almost wished we had, almost. I wondered if I could skip classes when I made it to the cafeteria. I was so tired that I didn't feel like eating, just sleep. I forced myself to eat an apple and sat down with my head in my arms. I swear I would've fallen asleep if it weren't for Ala walking over to me.

"Are you okay? You seem pretty out of it," Ala commented. I looked at her with an expression saying, "You think?"

"Hey, good job, Crystal!" Will walked over and patted me on the back.

"Yeah, you did really good out there," Layla smiled.

"I can't believe it, it was so awesome! You just ran on the Lash's arm and then, bam!" Zach snapped his fingers. "That chain thing of yours was so awesome! It was just like, swish then swing then bam! He was bleeding!"

I let my head fall back into my arms and closed my eyes. 'Let them go away and let me sleep,' I begged. Unfortunately, they sat down and kept me up so I gave up sleeping and just listened to the conversation with my hand resting on my arms.

"What will Lash do now?" Magenta asked.

"I don't know, but he holds a grudge and doesn't take defeat well," Will frowned.

"You might want to be careful, Crystal," Zach warned.

Great, I just kicked a guy's ass and he holds a grudge. Well, it's not the first time. Even with him, it's not. I kicked his ass in the halls yesterday, so I wondered where I was on his revenge list.

"Crystal, are you okay?" I heard Layla started talking to me, but I didn't hear any of it. I don't remember anything else after that. I passed out from fatigue. 'Damn, I still have a paper to write, detention hours to serve, and I have to pass out now?' was my last thought.


	3. Boredom

_Paint the town,_

_Take a bow,_

_Thank everybody,_

_You're going to do it again_

_You are the few,_

_The proud,_

_You are the antibody_

_Mind, soul, and zen_

_And the world's a stage_

_And the world's a faze_

_And the end is near_

_So push rewind just in time_

_Thank anybody_

_You're gonna do it again_

_The way that you walk_

_It's just the way that you talk_

_Like it ain't no thing_

_And every single day is just a fling_

_Then the morning comes_

_Take your knocks,_

_Shake them off, _

_Duck everybody,_

_You're gonna take them again._

_You are you foe  
Your friend  
You are the paparazzi  
You are the tragedian_

And the world's a craze  
And the world's a faze  
And the end is near

So push rewind  
Just in time  
Thank anybody  
You're gonna do it again

The way the you walk  
It's just the way that you talk  
Like it ain't no thing  
And every single day is just a fling  
And when it comes it moves so slow  
Kinda like it's saying I told you so  
Looking back before she goes

_Tomorrow's gonna hurt  
_

I woke up some time later in a white room. I smelled disinfectant and plastic. My head was swimming as I sat up and looked around. I rubbed my eyes and saw a nurse look me over. She sounded really worried, but she wasn't talking about me. It was about another boy who she was blocking with her body.

I yawned and she turned towards me. "You shouldn't be sitting up," the nurse chided. "You were just so weak when you came in here that it's surprising you're awake now. It's only been four hours." Four hours, that meant school was out and I had to go to detention. I was late for detention, hooray. I wondered if I could get a pass out of it for today when Mrs. Powers walked in. The nurse rushed over to her and started telling her what was going on in a whisper.

I looked over the boy she was worried about and saw cold sweat forming at the top of his forehead. I remembered my first-aid training from my dad and looked for signs. There weren't any open cuts anywhere on his body from what I could see so it wasn't an infection. He was burning up, but it couldn't be the flu. His power was to turn to stone. That meant it would kill any sign of a virus, right?

Mrs. Powers moved in front of my view and hid the boy from me. "Are you alright, Ms. Thomason? You gave us quite a scare." How was I supposed to answer? I just nodded, not sure what else I could do.

"Mrs. Powers, would you lead Crystal to the buses," the nurse asked. She was still busy with the boy. I sensed his power disappear suddenly before returning. It was very odd, but I wasn't able to look into it. Mrs. Powers led me out of the room and to the buses. She made sure I didn't go anywhere else, damn it.

I got on some waiting buses and found a seat around the middle. I was flown home and dropped off at my bus stop. Sam was waiting for me with a worried look on her face. She hugged me tightly before leading me home. Normally, I would pull away from her and try to make it on my own, but I was too tired. Thank the gods that it was Friday!

Sam was talking, but I wasn't caring. I didn't listen and walked upstairs. I fell down onto my bed and fell asleep almost instantly. It was really nice, being left alone for so long without anyone to wake me up in the morning. I still woke up early, but it felt nice to get enough sleep for once.

I woke up before the sun had risen and yawned. My backpack was leaning against the wall next to my door and I wondered how many times they checked on me. Why was Sam worried about me in the first place? She never cares about me unless it has to do with her. She probably just wanted to get me to go with her to some place she couldn't go alone. It's happened a lot of times before.

I woke before everyone else and checked the calendar that hung on the fridge. It was my turn to make breakfast. It was a tradition that we had, to take turns making breakfast every Saturday. I looked through the cupboards and found some muffin mix. I pulled it out and looked for the recipe book. I found the page on how to make omelets and started cooking.

I was up before Dad so I had to make for him. I made two omelets and ate one before anyone else woke. I checked the time on the clock and it flashed 1:34. Crap, power outage. I knew it was later than that. I went back upstairs and found my watch. I didn't wear it because it was too small, but it still had the time. It glowed a 6:32 before becoming dim again. Was I that early?

I went back downstairs and turned the television on quietly. I got bored and turned it off. What am I going to do at six in the morning and stay quiet? I could read, write, draw, or BORED. God, I was too bored to think about what I didn't want to do. I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the couch.

I woke sometime later when Dad walked downstairs. He looked at me curiously and I showed my bored, expressionless face. He laughed a little and looked at the table in surprise. "You made omelets? But it's only Thursday," he commented.

Wait, shit, it was Thursday! Shit, I still had homework to do! I ran upstairs and grabbed my backpack. I pulled out my homework and hurried through most of it. I finished it all and checked my watched. It was 7:30, almost time to go. That's when I remembered Sam wasn't up yet. Whoops, I better go wake her up.

I snuck into her room quietly and shook her gently. She looked up at me groggily and I showed her the lighted watch. Her eyes narrowed at me. "And you couldn't have woken me up sooner?" She muttered darkly. She got up and I left the room. I grabbed my backpack and went outside to hold the bus for her.

It was one of those days where something inside you told you to stay at home and be safe, but I couldn't. The law says we have to get an education, unfortunately. The bus pulled up and Sam ran up to it just in time. I took a seat in the middle and noticed some of the kids were missing. They were probably still asleep from the power outage. I got to have a seat all to myself for the entire bus ride. Somehow, jumping off a bridge didn't seem all that great with an omelet in me and I had to force it back down. It tasted a lot better when it went down the first time.

We landed and I forced myself to stand. I got off the bus without problems and walked over to the steps. I noticed a boy who looked really sick push past me and run inside. I really didn't want to know where he went, but I could guess the bathroom. I got to my class before the bell and drew pictures in my notebook. I wasn't that great an artist so most of them looked odd, but at least they looked like the thing they were supposed to. I might pass as a Picasso incarnate if I tried really hard. I didn't want to though.

Class passed as regular, but I still noticed two or three more open desks up front. The teacher left me alone and I got out of answering her stupid questions on dates. I paid attention long enough to realize that the conversation was going south. That's a metaphor if you don't get it. In other words, it was all question and answer. There wasn't any back talk or kids whispering or anything. What's got into these kids, the Learning Bug?

Whatever, I didn't care. The bell rang and I went outside. I climbed onto the roof of the school and enjoyed the peace while I read my Thomas Covenant book. It was really good and I didn't pull away until the bell rang. Then I had to quickly jump down and make it to class. We did some more speed changing, but not for very long. I only went around like five times. Hey, it beats fifty. We played a game called Lava. That's when I learned that the gym floor could hold lava on it. Not very many kids wanted to play after hearing the rules.

1. We couldn't touch the lava no matter what. I'd like to add a big, fat duh to the end of that. 2. We had to get to the other side of the gym before all of the platforms were gone. 3. The platforms could only hold a certain amount of people, but that amount was uncertain. He said they could all hold at least two so that helped. Not really, but he tried.

I quickly jumped from platform to platform right away and made it across easily. I wondered what the big deal was when I saw some other kids trying and failing to make the jumps I had. I jumped back and helped a kid up before he fell. He made it across and I jumped a few more back. An especially small one was hard to jump to and I caught the kids as they jumped for it. We all made a single file line of kids trying to get across. It was actually pretty fun once you get used to the heat coming off of the lava.

I helped the last kid cross the platform and jumped to the end. The teacher clapped his hands enthusiastically, but we didn't understand why. It's not like it was that much of a challenge. We had made it without anyone falling in so maybe that was something to cheer for. Hooray, we didn't get killed! Wow, never thought I'd say that.

The bell rang and it was time to start Save the Citizen. I took a seat in the back, farthest from view. There was no way I was going to pass out again and miss that much notes, again. I still needed to get them from somebody and I silently cursed myself for not doing that during my free period.

"Derrick Donnor and Jeffery Johnson," Coach Boomer shouted. The two boys, nervously, made their way to the floor. One of the girls blew Derrick a kiss and blushed. Yuck, young love. The two boys picked a girl and a boy to be the villains. Derrick could teleport and Jeff could… What the heck? I couldn't see what Jeff could do. I looked at the villains and tried to see their power, but I couldn't. Talk about power outage! It's not like I needed it anyway, but what happened?

I looked through all the kids in the crowd, but I couldn't see any of their powers. It bugged me and I wondered why. I couldn't tell why and just figured it was some sort of fatigue to my powers sensing so many or something. I shrugged and heard my name called. What?

Coach Boomer yelled out my name again. I stood and made my way to the floor. Everyone was staring at me like I was purple or something. It was weird, but I didn't know what to do. I wondered who my teammate was and saw a brunette shaking by the wall. She seemed truly nervous and I didn't even know what to do.

It turned out the boy and girl had won, which meant I should have been paying attention to their powers. I shrugged and got as much information on the two before the alarm sounded. My teammate seemed extremely nervous around me. I gave her my best "don't worry" smile and focused on the fight.

I had no idea what to do as the alarm sounded. I went to the defensive until I knew more about my opponents, not gaining much from before the alarm, and focused on avoiding their attacks. The boy started throwing daggers at me that came out of nowhere and the girl was lifting my teammate off the ground. My teammate was grabbing her head in pain. Shit, she's getting hurt.

I dodged another dagger and grabbed it. I ran straight at the girl and she dropped my teammate. I got under her just in time and set her down. She was shaking all over and that was worrying me. I focused back to the girl and started to charge at her. She yelped and jumped out of the way. I jumped onto the wooden doll and cut it loose with the dagger. I swung it just in time to avoid being destroyed. The alarm sounded and the game was over. My teammate was shaking violently and I helped her up. She used me as I crutch to get to the nurse's office and I used her as an excuse to avoid an exhausting exercise.

I helped her onto one of the bed's and noticed they were filling up fast with kids who obviously had fevers, but no other signs. I still couldn't see their powers, but it didn't matter. There were five kids on the beds who had fevers. Two of them were shaking violently like my teammate. I turned towards her and felt her forehead. She was burning up.

The nurse suddenly came in and ushered me out of the room quickly. I waved goodbye and went back to Save the Citizen. I didn't have to go down to play after that first game thankfully, but a team of a girl and a boy were doing so well I wanted to take them on. The girl was shooting ice to freeze the people and if the heroes somehow managed to avoid that, the boy would send a mini-bomb at them which blasted them against the wall. They were villains of course, so it tempted me so much more.

They called up Will and Warren. This should be good. The alarm sounded and Warren threw fire at the ice princess right away. They battled with opposite elements as Will made his way to the doll. The boy sent a mini-bomb at Warren which blasted him back and Icy froze him to the wall. He melted right away, but he couldn't strike her. The alarm sounded and Will held up the doll.

The girl yelled at the boy as Will and Warren chose new opponents. The girl must've been the one telling him what to do. She was extremely upset because they lost and took all of it out on the boy. He was nearly in tears as he sat down in the bleachers on the other side of me. The girl stuck up her nose at him and walked to the other side of the room. That only made the boy more upset. I wanted to scream at her for making some boy feel smaller than her, but I resisted and instead left the gym.

I felt like venting my anger somewhere and made my way to the roof. I climbed up and started kicking the air. I hated when people did that to others. It's not like it was their fault! I punched the air in front of my face and then backflipped. I changed into a trip move where you swing your leg under their feet. I changed that into a handstand where I opened my legs and swung around, kicking all of my imaginary opponents back.

"Wow, you're good," a boy complimented and walked over. I just nodded, having left my notebook in my backpack. His black hair bounced with his step. He shifted into a fighting position and smiled. "Mind trying to take me on?"

I nodded, thinking this would be fast. I took a fake punch to a kick. He grabbed my leg and held it there. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought, but I was too pissed off to lose. I broke free from his grasp and he took a step forward. He made a punch at me and I blocked it. I tried to knee him, but he grabbed under it and lifted. I flipped and landed on my feet. I didn't waste any time and jumped up. He took a step out from under me, but I had expected that. I did a slight helicopter with my legs and shifted my weight so I would fall head first. I grabbed his shoulders and as I landed, I used the momentum to lift him. He flew over me and landed behind me. He made a punch to the back of my head, but I knew it was coming. I ducked under it and grabbed it. I used my body weight to lift him back over me and land in front of me. He hit the cement roof hard.

"Very nice!" The boy complimented. "That's the first time I had ever been knocked down in three years. Who's your teacher?" I thought about my dad, but I couldn't say anything. "So your dad taught you, how interesting."

So he was a mind reader. I wonder if he tried to use his powers during the fight. Even if he did, I don't think about what I do, I just do it. It was second nature to me and it was actually easier to count on impulse rather than wasting the time to think it through, in my opinion.

The bell rang under us and he frowned. "I'm Ben, Ben Freedman. Don't worry Crystal, I know your name. I'll see you later," he called as he jumped down from the building and went inside for lunch. I followed him, thinking about how he moved during the fight. He didn't really strike me that much. Was he testing me? He was good, I'll give him that much, but the fact that he only struck me when he thought I was completely open worried me. I wanted a rematch. That way I can see if he was just being defensive or actually testing me.

I grabbed a tray and a few assorted foods. Most of them looked like they could get up and walk away so I stuck with the fruit, but I decided to grab some of the macaroni and cheese they were serving as well. It looked edible and macaroni was my favorite.

I sat down next to Zach and ate. I listened to his conversation about his old school where the meat once was made of rubber. Thankfully, it was only once though, but the principle had to go over the intercom, according to him, and order the meats to be thrown away. Some of the other kids dared him to eat the entire thing. He did, but it was the most disgusting thing he had ever tasted. I can see why. He ate rubber soaked in steak sauce. 'Gee, I wonder,' I rolled my eyes and finished eating. I put my tray away and left for the nurse's office to check up on my ex-teammate.

I knocked on the door and held up my notebook asking if a brunette girl who was shaking earlier was better. The nurse shook her head and wouldn't let me in. I gave up and walked away. It's no use trying to get in when people don't want you there. I grabbed my backpack and threw some books in it.

I made my way to my next class with the weird teacher who was going bald. I got bored waiting for him to come and explored some of the lower levels of the school until the bell rang. I found one class that looked like chemistry, but I knew it wouldn't be. Everything in this school was different than it looked.

The bell rang and I went back upstairs. My class was called 'Hero Support' because the teacher didn't like the term sidekick. Whatever, I decided I should go solo, that way I don't have to deal with a hero supporter. I shouldn't even be in this class. I was good enough to become a hero! I had taken out plenty of heroes and I'm just a sidekick. Life's unfair!

"Today, we will begin practicing on searching. Come with me to the gym," Mr. Boy commanded. Some of the students cheered while others groaned. I'm guessing it was about twenty-five percent happiness, about twenty percent unhappiness, and fifty percent don't care. The rest just weren't paying attention.

We went to the gym where Mr. Boy had hid a bomb. If we didn't diffuse it, we would all get an F and have to fix the damages. I wrote down in my notebook, "Who has what super power?"

One of the boys had super hearing and another was like a metal detector. Another girl said she could sense electricity. They all went to work right away in the gym. I looked at Mr. Boy who was walking up the bleachers. He must not want to get hurt, jerk. I turned back to the girl who squeaked.

"I think I feel it!" The girl exclaimed. The two other boys ran over.

"I hear it!" The first boy exclaimed. "But how do we get it out?"

"I can help," said a girl with nails as sharp as scalpels. She cut a circle in the floor around the bomb and pulled the floor out.

"How do we diffuse it?" another girl asked.

"Cut the blue wire," one of the boys suggested.

"No way, cut the red wire!" another boy exclaimed.

"Hey brainiacs, they're all gray," a girl frowned. She bent down close to the wires and looked at where they went. I thought it was pretty easy once I figured out what she was doing. She found the wire that led to the bomb's timer and grabbed the wire gently. "Cut this one."

"Are you sure?" the girl with the fingernails asked. The second girl nodded and the first girl flinched as she broke through the wire. Nothing happened. Every student present waited for something to happen, but it never did. One of them started cheering and soon almost the whole class was cheering. I looked closer at the bomb and pried open the case. It was just an empty box other than the batteries that went to the clock. Had Mr. Boy given us a decoy? No, he was clapping as well and came down to join the students.

Either he was stupid, or I was losing my mind because I heard a slight ticking. I walked closer to the wall and ignored the other students' cheers. The ticking was coming from inside the wall. I took a step back and turned back to Mr. Boy. The bomb went off as I was turning and I was blasted back against the floor on my back on the other side of the gym. Everyone was staring at the gaping hole in the wall as I grabbed my back. Pain seemed to like hurting me there, considering I already had a giant bruise there.

A few more explosions went off around the school and screaming could be heard from all around. Another explosion went off under the school and my only thought was, 'That can't be good.' I felt lighter and looked out the window. We were falling through the sky and picking up speed. This was right before the bell rang, damn it! I wanted to leave school, not be killed in it! I made my way to the door and wondered how many limbs I would break if I jumped and survived. I guessed all of them and decided to stay inside. At least this should be slow but painless. Hey, maybe some hero might rescue us.

The school started slowing and stopped altogether. I walked outside where my ears popped and looked down. I couldn't see anything from where I was, five feet from the edge. I didn't dare get any closer though. The school started lifting off the ground and I went back inside where I knew there was still some oxygen. I wanted to know how we were still flying even though bombs had gone off through the school, and how they got there too!

Will was smiling as he landed outside the gym when the school was put back in the sky. He didn't seem to notice any of the students staring at him as he walked back inside to his class. That must have been the second time he's done that. All I could do is try to survive. I suppose there will be times when you just don't have the right super power to do the job. Like Sage and Nightmare! It just hit me, she never got over that! I knew why she was so upset now! It didn't help me in the least at finding her, but it would cover hopefully two lines on my paper. Damn, I just realized I forgot to ask Mom where she might be!

Oh well, the students from my class seemed fine so I looked around. The damage from the bomb was small, probably made to scare the kids and destroy the electrical lines in the walls. I'll have to admit, whoever planted them was smart. There's just one thing that bugs me though, he should have known about the back-up generators. This place was bound to have a few because it's not likely to get its energy from anywhere but the sun. It would have to store back-up energy to stay up during the night, which meant he was on it! The bomber was still on the school! He had expected it to be saved but he wanted to give us all a scare to show off. God, how could I have been so stupid as to not get that right away?

Who did I know who liked to show off and could work with bombs? Not very many people at all. They all had one quality or the other, not both. Lash liked to show off, but he wasn't smart enough to put this operation together. Neither was Speed. That one boy they had said, Jason was it? He could start bombs and make traps, but these were the real thing, no powers added. I just didn't know enough people to know who put the operation together. Maybe I should tell someone about this? Nah, they'd probably take it into their own hands and solve it before me.

If I could solve this, then I would become a hero. I could leave these lame classes behind and make it to that chemistry room or somewhere better, with smarter teachers. I need to make a checklist for what needs to be done. I've got my three page paper, this, and… that boy I met on the roof! Would he be part of this somehow? Something in my gut said yes, but I couldn't tie him to the locations and time set. He would only be able to have one free period and lunch to set up. The small bombs wouldn't have a timer that went over just a few hours. Maybe there was more than one person behind this.

"Crystal, are you coming?" Mr. Boy asked. My train of thought was broken, but I had to follow him. Once again, I miss detention because everyone is being sent home so the teachers could fix the school. I looked at all the students carefully and watched their expressions. Most of them were either worried, fearful, or nervous. A handful of students were happy to get out of school. I noticed Ben, he seemed slightly happy, slightly upset, by the whole matter.

Could he be behind this? He got onto my bus and I wondered why I had never noticed him before. I got on and took the first seat I could find. It was close to the front, only four seats back, but I didn't care. The bus driver seemed cautious when he took off and slowly calmed once he was in the air. I guess he was worried about another explosion shaking up the building with the bus on it, unable to take off. You've got to admit, that would suck.

I made it home without any other surprises and walked next to Sam who was unusually quiet. I looked at the windows on the bus and noticed Ben watching me carefully. I watched him until the bus turned a corner and went out of view. What a weird boy. I got home and found Mom was gone. I sat down at the couch and started working on my homework when she walked in.

"Sorry, I'm late, but I brought dinner," Mom called from the kitchen. I got up and walked over to the smell of KFC. I grabbed a plate and started filling it up when Sam walked in.

"Mom, I'm on a vegetarian diet!" Sam complained.

"Since when?" Mom asked.

"Since…" Sam couldn't remember.

"Exactly, now eat some mashed potatoes if you don't want meat," she smiled. "There's some coleslaw somewhere around here, too."

I pulled out my notebook and wrote down, "Do you know who Sage is?"

"Sage?" My mom seemed surprised I would ask such a thing. I quickly wrote that I needed some information on her for homework. "Well, I suppose she would be difficult to find."

"Sage? Isn't she that super hero that got defeated by Nightmare?" Sam asked.

"Why, yes, she was." Mom sighed and I took note of that. "She was so nice to everyone and then…"

"And then what?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. She disappeared." Mom looked down at the chicken before grabbing some. No eye contact meant she might be lying. I took another note on her behavior with Sage mentioned and wrote it down in the back of my notebook for later reference. I finished eating and went upstairs to think.

I wrote in my journal and made up for missing yesterday's before finishing my homework and falling asleep. Except I didn't fall asleep, something bugged me all day long, but I didn't know what. The bomber, no, the bombs, no, the bus driver, no, the teachers, no, I just don't know. It was like I'm missing a key factor somewhere and it felt like it was on the edge of my tongue. It just didn't want to slip off of it anytime soon.

I gave up and sat up in my bed. What time was it? My clock was still flashing which meant I forgot to reset it. I pulled out my watch and flashed the small light on. It showed 10:43. I set my clock before I dropped back down. Now what was I supposed to do?

I thought back to what the book on Sage said. Dark figure last seen flying around on Halloween, could it really be Mom? What makes these guys so important, the elements? Can't everybody else control elements? Maybe it had something to do with becoming it, but then Sage would be everywhere, and if an element was its element than what about all of the kids that can control it? Ugh, my brain hurts. There are too many variables in this problem. I'll have to think about it tomorrow where I can write it all down.

I thought about that boy, Ben. He seemed nice enough, and he was a mind reader. I wonder how he got that good, or maybe he was using some of his power to help him. I wish I could use my power to help me when I fight. A little air travel would be good, or maybe invisibility, or even better, super strength. Will's so lucky to have flight and super strength, and he doesn't even show it off! If only I had his super power…

But that would never happen, neither of my parents have super strength. I wonder if they might be keeping powers from me… No, they wouldn't, their too nice to. Well, could Mom be the dark element? Wouldn't that mean I would get her powers and not this lame one to see other kids' power? Mine doesn't even work! I had gotten so used to seeing Mom's that I had forgotten to check mine. Shit, I wanted to see if they were back yet! Damn it!

I wonder, if I look in the mirror, will I be able to see my own super power? Probably not, I'm so used to my power I wouldn't be able to sense the change. Now how am I going to check it? Maybe Warren would be at the Paper Lantern tomorrow, until then, I'm going to sleep.


	4. Rematch

_Choices always were a problem for you_

_What you need is someone strong to guide you_

_Deaf and blinded, dumb and born to follow_

_What you need is someone strong to guide you_

_Like me, like me, like me, like me_

_If you want to get your soul to heaven_

_Trust in me, now don't you judge or question_

_You are broken now but faith can heal you_

_Just do everything I tell you to do_

_Deaf and blinded, dumb and born to follow_

_What you need is someone strong to guide you_

_Deaf and blinded, dumb and born to follow_

_Let me lay my holy hand uh, hand upon you_

_(My god's will_

_Becomes me_

_When he speaks out_

_He speaks through me_

_He has needs_

_Like all do_

_We both want_

_To rape you)_

_Jesus Christ, why don't you come save my life now_

_Open my eyes and blind me with you light_

_Jesus Christ, why don't you come save my life now_

_Open my eyes and blind me with your light_

_If you want to get your soul to heaven_

_Trust in me now don't you judge or question_

_You are broken now but faith can heal you_

_Just do everything I tell you to do_

_Jesus Christ, why don't you come save my life now_

_Open my eyes and blind me with you light_

_Jesus Christ, why don't you come save me life now_

_Open my eyes and blind me with your light now_

_Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow_

_Let me lay me holy hand upon you_

I woke sometime later before the sun came up. I didn't feel like falling back asleep so I got up and stretched. My back felt like one giant bruise and after checking the mirror, it was one giant bruise. I tried to loosen it up the best I could, but it didn't seem to help at all. I was stiff and sore. I found a few more bruises on my legs and arms, but they were just small ones, nothing too major.

I went downstairs and made an omelet for Dad before he got up and ate mine again. I left it on the table and went to the backyard. I started to practice, hoping that would help my back. I started with the basic kicks and punches before moving on to the invisible opponents. I a real opponent to practice some of my moves, but I improvised. I used a tree to improvise when I was supposed to kick and jump off of the chest into a backflip that would kick their face.

I heard clapping behind me and turned. "You're getting better," Dad commented. I smiled and went back to my imaginary opponent. I knew my dad would watch me so I had to get it perfect. I used the tree to do some more moves, but I couldn't do them all. I heard some whispering behind me and turned. Mom must have come out some time during my practice because she was whispering to my Dad.

"Hey dear, you are truly getting better," Mom complimented. I just rolled my eyes and smiled. She never supported my training so I didn't know why she would compliment me now. She hadn't before when I needed her evaluation. I wonder what they're talking about. It must be important because Dad looked away from me. He hardly ever does that unless it involves a life or death situation. I wasn't that far off, because my dad flew away and my mom followed him.

I stopped practicing and went back inside. The practice really did help my back and if I kept practicing I wouldn't lose to Ben. I wonder who taught him, because he was better than me. He was just too defensive. Had he wanted to, I would've been the one on the cement roof. He could've slipped from my grip in time to land and just use that flip on me. So why didn't he? Why didn't he take me out? Did he think I was a girl and didn't want to get hurt?

I shook those thoughts from my mind and went back to the muffins I was trying to make. I mixed the ingredients together as the preheat alarm went off. I set the muffins in and set the timer for twenty minutes. I had to stay inside or else they would burn so I watched television. Once again, there was nothing good on. As boredom settled onto me, I could only think about one thing. Where was everybody?

Where did Will, Layla, Warren, Ben, Zach, Ethan, Magenta, Lash, and Speed live? I don't really care about Lash and Speed as much as the others, but they rode the same bus I did. That meant they lived somewhere nearby, right? I wonder if they're in the phone book…

I opened it and thought back to their last names, Stronghold, can't remember, Peace, Freedman, can't remember, can't remember, can't remember, and can't remember. Alright, guess I'm looking up Will. I turned to the S section and looked at the names carefully. Strongal, Strongelled, Stronghold, here it is. I studied his address before turning to the front where a map showed. I found the right street and guessed where the number was.

What time was it? The clock on the oven showed six. That's horrible! I got up before six! Ugh! The sun was just rising over the horizon and I had to admit, the sky was a brilliant array of pinks and reds. I decided to wait until after Will woke up to go visit him and wondered where Warren lived.

I turned back to the phone book and looked up the P section. Peace, Peace, Peace, I couldn't find it anywhere. Maybe it had a funny spelling? No, Peace was just Peace. I looked carefully and saw a few that looked like Peace except it had a slightly different spelling than expected. Maybe they had a typo and placed it in the wrong spot? Doubtful, but it could happen. Oh well, he probably just wasn't in there anyway.

So I had quite a few hours to kill before being able to visit anyone. I opened the pages to the F section and tried to find Freedman. There were no names that looked anything like Freedman. Had he lied to me? I would guess yes, and it wouldn't be surprising if he had. Part of being a good fighter is not being killed by people who are upset that you surpassed them.

It happened to me once. My teacher before my dad was extremely upset because I had brought him down in front of the whole class. He had asked me where I learned that and I told him the truth, my dad. My dad made us move after that and I heard on the news later that he was arrested for breaking and entering a house with no one in there. What a weirdo!

The alarm on the oven went off and I shut it off. I opened the oven to find my muffins. They were extremely hot and I had to use towel wrapped around my hand. I couldn't find anything else to use. I pulled them out and rested them on top of the oven. They smelled really good, I was tempted to hold it under Sam's nose until she woke up, but that would take to long considering she sleeps like a log.

I sat back down on the couch and waited for the muffins to cool. I flipped through the movie channels, but I didn't find one that I wanted to watch and turned off the television. I got back and, heat or no heat, grabbed a muffin. I burned my tongue, but I cooked the muffins too well to resist another bite.

I finished two muffins and left the rest. I walked outside and decided to explore the neighborhood. I never really got the chance too, but I've never really woke up before this and my old friends would call. Did my new friends even know my number? My name wouldn't be listed, we only moved into our house four months ago. Okay, so we would be, but still.

I was bored out of my mind as I turned a corner and wondered if I could find my way back. I started running, then decided not to and walked again. I had passed the Paper Lantern and was so bored that I explored some alleyways. I was hoping to find some alley cat or something to give me something to do for two hours when a door burst open next to me.

Hooray, I mean, oh no! There was a guy who was walking towards me with a gun drawn. I stuck my hand in my pocket and began fingering my pocket knife. He seemed very disgruntled and that meant this would go fast. He was distracted by something and wasn't doing a good job at focusing and making me pull out my money. I didn't have any to really pull out anyway, but still, he should be ordering me to.

"Witch, put your hands up and come peacefully!" the man ordered. He called me Witch, but why? I was never told I looked like my mom, it always my dad. I shrugged and slipped the pocket knife into my sleeve as I held up my hands. My sweatshirt was a red one with a black cat on it. I was still wearing regular dark blue jeans so no surprise there.

"Come with me!" The man seemed to get the feeling that I wasn't nervous or surprised. Well, I was surprised, but bullets didn't scare me. How did he know my mom's name and why was he calling me that? He walked around behind me and pressed his gun against my back. I tensed as I sensed his power. Hey, my power was back! But that wasn't too great considering he could move metal. Shit, now I'm worried. How was I supposed to dodge a bullet that could swerve?

I considered running away and hiding so he couldn't track me, but I was too bored to care. At least this way I had an opponent. As you can tell, I'm not worried about being in danger. He put his free hand on my shoulder which tempted me so much more to flip him to my front and attack, but I resisted. He pushed me into the building where I lost the sense of his metal moving power. Great, either my power was on the fritz again or there were power nullifiers somewhere around here.

Once again, tempted by boredom, I resisted throwing him until I found out why he knew my mom's name. It still bugged me because only Sam called me Witch. It's not like it's a popular name or anything. Maybe he's been drinking or taking drugs. That would make an easy fight.

He led me into another room where I sensed his power before he stepped back out. It seemed to hurt him in there, but I didn't know why. The room was a bright white and I felt a small headache coming, but that was it. Maybe I didn't really have a power, but just a talent and that the room was supposed to hurt me somehow. Well, it sucks to be them because it doesn't hurt.

A man walked in, but he didn't flinch. He must not have powers or he is really good at hiding pain. I still couldn't sense him so maybe it was a power nullifier and a power pain thingy. I don't know what to call it, but it was something that took how much power you had and turned it into pain. Back to the subject, the man was fairly young. I'd say around the thirties, maybe thirty-five. He had black hair that bounced with his step and he looked somewhat familiar.

"My son told me you were good. You stand in this room where your powers should be killing you right now. I'm impressed, but can you fight with the strain?" the man asked. When he said son, the only person who had said that to me directly was Ben. This man did look a little like Ben, but not much. I wanted to ask why everyone confused me with my mom. I didn't look like her, did I?

"Ben wanted a rematch with you. I wanted to see you fight. Now we both get what we want," the man laughed coldly. So he was Ben's father! Great, I'm entertainment for a freak who thinks I'm my mom. This ought to be interesting.

Ben walked in quietly and stood next to his father. He didn't say anything, but he didn't wince at all when he entered the room. He was a mind reader though, he should have. Maybe it only affected certain types of power, like physical instead of mental powers. My power would be considered what then? Physical or mental?

"Begin," the man said roughly and walked out of the room. I slid into a fighting position, but Ben didn't move. 'So much for a fight,' I sighed, 'because I wasn't going to hurt him unless he fought me.'

"Crystal, I'm sorry," Ben murmured. I felt a pain throbbing in my skull and dropped to my knees. It felt like my two brain hemispheres were being pulled apart. I grabbed my head in pain and looked up at Ben. He was staring at the floor, concentrating on his attack.

I pulled out my knife and threw it at him. I didn't pull out the actual knife part so it his head without killing him, but it did break his concentration. I shook my head and felt a major headache coming on. I ignored it and lunged for my knife before he used it against me. I shoved it back in my pocket as the room started to hum.

The walls turned and ice waited on the other side. The room dropped in temperature fast. I could see my breath as I jumped up and grabbed onto Ben's shoulders. I had to make sure to keep him concentrated on the fight so he couldn't do that again. I flipped him, but I had already used that move on him. He landed easily.

Instead of flipping him back over, I moved into a trip. I swung my leg under him and he fell. I hesitated when he didn't move. My breath made a small wisp, blocking my view for a second.

It disappeared just in time to reveal Ben's kick aimed for my chest. It hit squarely and I landed painfully against the wall and fell to the floor. I didn't know if I could get up, the ice was chilling me to the bone and my back was thrusting painful shock waves throughout my body. He ran at me and I moved out of the way as he swung his fist at me.

I noticed the walls changing from cold ice to dirt. Parts of the wall crumbled off and made dirt spill onto the floor. I backflipped out of the way as Ben tried to kick my legs. He changed and grabbed my legs instead. I balanced on my hands and spun around. He was thrown against the wall and part of the rock crumbled away.

He got up slowly and slid into a fighting position again. I did the same and blocked a kick aimed at my chest. I grabbed it, but he expected me to and spun in the air. I had never seen that before, but it didn't matter because I was blasted against the wall. Parts of the rock fell away next to me and I grabbed some of the dirt. I threw it at his face and he flinched. I jumped up and kicked him in the face as he was turning back. He was slammed against the dirt wall and was buried in the rock.

The walls changed again. They were bright red and the last of the chills in the room were broken away as the room climbed in heat. I broke into a sweat as the room reached over one hundred. Ben felt the heat as he pushed the dirt away from his body. He jumped up and tried to punch me. I blocked it and went for an upper cut. He backed away just in time and swung at me with his leg. It was slow, I dodged it easily. The heat seemed to be getting to him. I tried to swing as well and noticed myself slow. The humidity was growing inside the room. My head felt like it was swimming in a haze of fire. I tried to kick, but my head didn't register it fast enough and Ben blocked it without even trying. I was too slow. I dropped to my knees and gasped for breath in the oven.

Ben dropped to his knees as the room changed. A hole in the wall started pouring water. I splashed some on my face and stood to fight. Ben did the same. I went for a kick and splashed water at him. It only reached his leg, but it gave me an idea. He blocked my kick and went for a punch. I ducked it and grabbed it. I went for the pressure point, but he tugged away just in time.

The room was still filling up with water. It was at my waist now. It was hard to move in so we resorted to punches. It wasn't easy to block and punch as the water reached our necks. We stopped fighting and tried to stay above the water. We would try to kick or punch, but we couldn't fight well. Soon the whole room was filled with water. I took in the largest breath I could and ducked under the water. I swung at Ben, but he swam away. He went for a kick and hit me in the stomach. I lost all the air I needed and my body struggled for air. The ceiling wouldn't budge. There were no openings anywhere. Even the hole had closed up to keep the water in. I felt light headed and darkness wrapped around me as I fell to the bottom of the chamber. I could only focus on staying conscious.

Ben swam towards me and caught me before I landed on the floor. Ben opened my mouth and plugged my nose. He pressed his mouth against mine and breathed into me. It was a half breath, but I knew it was all he could do. I opened my eyes and saw him still pressed against my lips.

The room drained and the walls changed again. I stared at Ben as I took in deep breaths. He was on his knees and I was about to drop when the room slowly changed to fast growing vines. The vines started growing right away and already covered most of the ceiling and walls. We began fighting again. He swung at me with his leg and I grabbed it. He began to flip again, but I let go. He took that time to flip and grab my shirt. He threw me against the wall. I grabbed the vines behind me and climbed up to the ceiling.

I pulled one of the vines free and dropped on top of Ben. I was still holding onto the vine as I landed next to Ben. He had avoided my drop attack, but I had expected him to. He went for a punch and I dropped the vine. I grabbed his arm and the vine again. I spun him and wrapped him up in the vine.

I had enough time to catch part of my breath before he broke free. The vines retreated as the walls changed again. Metal spikes protruded from the walls with different sizes and lengths. Ben lunged at me and I took a step back to have one of the spikes poke me in the back sharply. I grabbed his leg and took a step away from the spike. He yanked free and I just blocked his swings as he and I tried to avoid the spikes at all costs. I made only a few punches and kicks, but we were beginning tire and were too worried about the spikes to do anything about it.

The walls changed again after several minutes of just dodging the spikes. It changed to black with little white dots placed randomly around the room. The gravity went out and we both started flying into the air. I pushed off of a wall and rammed Ben. He smashed into the wall and pushed off of it. I couldn't do anything to block it so I did my best to land painlessly. He gathered himself in a corner of the room as I did the same in the opposite of him. I couldn't remember which way was the floor, but it didn't matter. I pushed off as he did and we smashed into each other. I pushed off him and flipped into a corner again. He was floating helplessly and I didn't hesitate to push off again.

Before I could smash into him the gravity came back on. The floor was above me and I dropped up. I had to take a few seconds to reorient myself, but Ben didn't. The walls changed to back to white, but the floor hummed. Pieces of the floor started to fall away to reveal darkness below them. What kind of sick and twisted room was this?

Ben was already swinging away at me. I could only block so many blows while trying to figure out the roof wasn't the roof and it was the floor. I took a strong punch to the stomach and then a kick to the side. I was sent flying across the room. I smashed into the wall and rolled just in time as the floor underneath my poor landing fell away. I got up and saw Ben running at me. I side stepped his attack and grabbed his shoulder before he fell into the darkness. I pulled him back and shoved him against the floor. He fell and I moved out of the way as he tried to trip me from his spot. I jumped over his legs and he stood.

We were both breathing heavily and I wondered how much more I could take. Maybe I should have just attacked the guy with a gun… too late now. We had to keep moving because the floor was slowly breaking away. I jumped into a corner that hadn't broke away yet and realized it was just like the game lava. I looked closely on the ground and saw small shapes in the floor. That must be where the pieces break away! Ben was waiting on the larger piece of ground and watched me as I crouched to the floor.

I took an extra second to catch my breath before jumping back to Ben. I jumped with a double-kick and landed the second one on his chest. He fell backwards and I grabbed his shirt just in time when he stumbled and pin-wheeled on the edge. He balanced and we slid into a fighting position again. We passed blows weakly and kept taking steps closer to each other. The floor was almost completely gone. I took a step back when he punched for my stomach. I was still short on breath, but so was he. We were so close to each other it was hard to fight.

The rest of the floor broke away and we both jumped to a new floor that appeared quickly. It slowly covered the missing floor space. The new floor was black, the walls darkened too. I just realized that it was light in the room, but there weren't any lights or windows. The room slowly dimmed and I couldn't see anything. It was pitch black darkness. I felt a calming blanket fall onto my shoulders and felt energy surge through my body. Could this be from my mom's power?

I heard movement behind me and cloth ruffled. I ducked and saw movement above me. I guessed that Ben was still attacking through this and reached behind me. I felt his shirt under my fingers and closed my hands. I grabbed his shirt and threw him over me. I knew where he was, but I couldn't see anything. It was really weird, it was like I was the room, and to be honest, it was freaking me out! It was almost like I was the dark, like I was all around me. Did I mention that it's making me freak out? All I could do was block and dodge.

I dodged a few more blows. Well, it was more like I watched myself dodge the blows. It was weird, but Ben kept throwing the punches and I watched myself run out of room. I side stepped, or watched myself side step, Ben and move the other way. This is way too confusing, I'm going to call my body my first vision and the darkness thing my second vision. I reached out and grabbed Ben, in my first vision I saw a giant black hand come out of nowhere. It had a thin white outline, but other than that it had no distinctive traits other than that. The rest of it fades away.

In my second vision, I was the one reaching down and picking Ben up. I held him in the air and didn't let go. I felt him struggle inside my hand and saw him struggle from two different viewpoints. In my second view, I could see through the hand as he struggled to get out. In my first, I couldn't see through my hand. I gasp in both visions. The gasp in my second vision caused the darkness the darkness entered my body.

The room became light again and Ben dropped to the floor. He was staring at me as I stared at my hands. They were black, and then it vanished into my skin. I could sense Ben's power and other people's power outside the room. Except it wasn't their power, it was them. What the hell is going on with me?

"Crystal, what the hell was that?" Ben asked. I couldn't answer. I was mute and I didn't know.

Ben's father walked in and clapped his hands. I dropped to my knees and wondered what time it was. "Excellent fight," he smiled. "You would make a fine student, Witch." I looked up at him curiously. 'This was a test to become a student? Shit, I risked my life for this!' I thought.

Ben repeated it to his father in better terms. "She said that she wanted to know if it had all just been a test."

"Of course, we don't let everyone to be taught. It is a great honor to be taught by me," Mr. Freedman (even if it isn't his real name, I don't know what to call him other than that) smirked.

'What the hell is this retard thinking? I already know how to fight and this freak just kidnaps me and makes me fight his son through all these different–' I stopped before thinking the word, _elements_. If I had that second vision thing with the darkness since my mom was darkness, then maybe I can talk to Sage!

"She said she already knows how to fight," Ben translated. He watched me carefully as I thought about Sage. I looked over to the open door and looked back up at Mr. Freedman. My report was due in less than two days and I had to get out. If I could just get passed Mr. Freedman, without being tired beyond reason, then I could finish my report and prove that no good teacher wrong. All I had to do was find some grass.

"No," Ben whispered. "It can't be." I didn't wait to figure out what he was doing. I took off and ran left of Mr. Freedman. He jumped at me and I ducked right. I ran out the door and back out in the hallway. I knew how to talk to Sage now! I had my rematch, what was left on my checklist? All I had left was to check out those bombs. Maybe I could get a lift from Mom.

I sensed Ben running after me and went faster. I was starting to get pissed off and I was very tired. I had fought with him for too long and now I had my paper to write, so much for visiting Will, oh well. I could visit him tomorrow if I could get away from these freaks. I focused on leaving the building, but I had no idea where to go. Soon, I realized I was completely lost.

"Crystal, wait!" Ben yelled. He grabbed my arm as I looked at people in white walking by.

'Where the hell was I? These people aren't doctors, are they?' I wondered.

"Crystal, please stop!" Ben begged. "Why don't you just train with me?"

'Because I don't want to! My father trained me and I'm doing just fine. Now if you would excuse me, I have a paper to write,' I frowned and looked around the completely white hallway. Where was I? Where was the exit?

"If you want out, you have to follow me. It's this way, but my father won't leave you alone. He's very dangerous and I warn you to be careful." Ben walked down the hallway without another word. I felt his worry and didn't speak, think, talk to him through his abilities, either. I thought about how he felt and thought back to the fight. He had saved me, without being ordered to. But why? Why did he save me? Why did he give me some of his oxygen, not knowing that the room was going to drain? Why did I save him from falling into the darkness? Why was I here in the first place?

'Ben, what's your real last name?' I asked.

"It's Rogers," Ben smiled weakly. It dropped right away and he turned back in front of him. He opened a door and the midday sun shone down on my eyes. I closed them and tried to get used to the brightness. By the time I could see again, Ben was gone. I was in front of a building that looked almost exactly like the rest next to it. I was in a big city, but I didn't know which big city.

I didn't know where I was. I looked at a nearby newsstand and saw the _Daily Planet_ on it. Wait a second, the _Daily Planet_, that's in a whole other city from Maxville. (A/N Information from alternate ending on DVD) This is where Superman is, right? Maybe I can get a ride from him. Then again, how was I going to ask him? I'll have to wait until the sun falls and try that second vision thing. I wonder if it would work, because it never really had before the room.

I had half a day to figure out how I got here and where home was. Let Superman be somewhere around here, I beg of you! I'm supposed to e grounded! Oh, shit! I'm supposed to be grounded! I am so dead! I wonder if Mom will be around here. God, I hope not! I'm dead already, but if I'm found out here, I'll be worse than dead. Where am I supposed to go now?

"Can I help you?" the newsstand manager asked. I just shook my head and put the newspaper back. What was I going to say? I walked away and wondered where I could make some trouble. I grabbed a receipt out of a woman's open purse and pulled out a pen from a man's shirt. Neither of them noticed and I quickly wrote down that I needed a ride to Maxville and wondered where I could cause some chaos. Sad, but I was desperate enough to bring someone to me.

I looked at a bank, but shook my head. Too many guards would fire at me. I wondered if I could find some poor guy to mug in public, but again, the cops would pull out their guns. I had only one option and that was to fake a suicide jump. Which building would someone notice me on?

I was that desperate. I entered a mall and looked around for something that would help me. I needed Superman or any hero that could fly to come and save me, but I needed to make sure they would save me without my death. I needed rope, and not just rope, but elastic rope. The only problem was that I had no money. Sure, I could pickpocket some people, but it was only a matter of time before I was caught.

I wondered if I could steal the rope, but I saw a camera turn towards me. I ducked under it and hoped I hadn't appeared on the screen. I reached out for the rope as the camera turned away, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't steal it. I sighed and walked away, empty handed. I just couldn't become like someone I hated. I felt weak that I couldn't do it, but I knew I had to find some other way. I had to trust in the heroes that they would rescue me.

I left the mall and looked around for the tallest building nearby. I saw a building with a swirling globe saying _Daily Planet_ on it. I knew that he would show if I climbed that. Easy enough, right? Well, if it wasn't, then I was in more trouble than I could breathe in. So, what could I lose? I shrugged and walked over to the building.

A woman walked by me and was talking about Superman and how he had saved her several times. I wondered who this woman was as I followed her to the elevator and pushed the top floor button. Who cares, I had to get to the roof without getting caught. My problem was more important than figuring out who some strange woman was. The door opened and the woman walked out.

"Well, hey there Clark. I haven't seen you in the office for awhile. Where've you been?" the woman asked.

A bumbling idiot smiled sheepishly at her. "Hello, Louis, um, I've been at the cleaners. I was picking up, uh, laundry." He stuttered. So the woman's name was Louis. That meant absolutely nothing to me. I pushed the top floor button again as the man got in. He saw the button light up and must be heading there as well.

I made it there and got off. I followed the man as he walked down the rooms and cubicles to a door at the end of the narrow walk space. He opened it and revealed some steps leading to the roof. He walked up there and I busied myself by pretending to get a drink of water from the nearby water fountain. The man still hadn't come down, but I gave up waiting for him and climbed the stairs.

The roof was pretty much a helicopter pad and the globe. I looked around for the man, but he was either out of sight, or long gone. The sun blazed down on me as I looked around. Where did he go? The helicopter was still here, and there was no other way down. I walked all around the roof, but he just wasn't there. What the hell? Where'd he go?

Oh well, I can't worry about him right now. I still had to get home. I swung up to the first pole on my way up to the top of the globe when the man appeared. I still had my note in my pocket along with a pen, but I didn't want to take the time to climb back down, hand him the note saying, "Hey, Stupid, I'm mute!" then climbing back up again. I kept climbing as he yelled up to me. His voice was muffled by the wind. A storm was definitely coming.

I jumped onto the next pole as he yelled a "stop!" up at me. I ignored him and reached the globe. I wondered how to get to the top of it when the man left. Good, it wasn't like he was helping me anyway. I grabbed onto the screen where the words spun along and climbed to the top of it. I accidentally looked down and I froze as cracking slowly increased. Shit, I didn't think it would be this high!

"Excuse me, Miss, but what are you doing up here?" Superman asked. About time he got here! I tried to hand him the note, but the screen under me cracked and sent me sprawling down to the roof. The note fell out of my pocket along with the pen, over the edge.

He flew down and caught me, but I wasn't surprised. He is a hero after all. Where was that guy from the elevator? He was missing everything, so much for his help. Superman set me down and I smiled up at him. I tried to make my weird sign language make sense, but he couldn't understand. I pretended to write something on imaginary paper, but he still didn't understand. God, I was on top of a newspaper building and I could get to a pen or paper! I needed to tell him!

"Do you need paper?" Superman asked. I nodded vigorously. Finally, he got it! "I'll be right back."

He flew away to find some paper and I frowned. How long was that going to take, considering he flew away from the newspaper building? Where'd he fly off to anyway? It took him five, excruciatingly long minutes to come back with a pen and paper. What took so long?

"Here you are," he smiled.

I quickly wrote, "I'm mute. I need a way to get home to Maxville. I was trying to get your attention by climbing up there. Can you bring me there?"

He read it and nodded. "Well, sure I can. What's your name?"

"Crystal Thompson," I wrote. He smiled at me and picked me up again. I sensed his super strength as soon as he touched me. I wondered why I hadn't felt it before when he flew up to get me. I guess my powers were still on the fritz, just what I need. Note the sarcasm. I looked up at the sun that was above us. It was somewhere around two when he landed me onto of my house.

"I'll see you later," Superman smiled. I waved up to him and gave him a thankful smile. I looked down and figured I was looking down the side with my bedroom window. I knew I couldn't jump into it from here, but I might if I could reach the gutter drain. I felt down with my foot and tried to listen for a sneaker against metal sound. I heard it on the corner and tried to get a grab for it.

I felt my shoe catch on something and put a little more weight on it. It didn't break off so I put all of my weight on it. Still, no sounds of it breaking were heard. I started to climb down, slowly feeling for my shoe to catch. I made my way down two catches and looked over. I saw my window opened, but I couldn't reach. I let go of the drain pipe and held onto the siding. I was almost there.

My foot slipped and I missed the edge of my window. I fell helplessly, waiting for the pain to arrive in my bruise-filled back. I closed my eyes as my hair whipped around me. Every second turned into an hour as I thought of what it would be like to be in a wheelchair.

"Witch, you have to be one of the stupidest people in the world!" Sam proclaimed. I opened my eyes to see my window two floors above me, but I didn't feel the grass under me. My sister dropped me and I hit the ground on my back. It could've been worse, but it still hurt. I sat up slowly and grabbed it.

"Why don't you just use the front door like the rest of us? Mom and Dad haven't come back since this morning. You should really check next time if you want to get out of getting in trouble," Sam rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you need to come back inside before Mom finds out that you left."

They were gone since this morning? I saw them leave, but it shouldn't have taken them this long to return. Where did they go? Oh well, I have to figure out how to talk to the grass, just as soon as I take a nap though. I walked in the house in almost a complete state of sleep walking. I made it to my bed and dropped on top of it. I fell asleep before I hit my pillow.

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A/N sorry for the bit of randomness in it at the end. I got so bored of watching old superman movies that I just put it in there so I could take up space. Read and Reveiw FOR EVERY CHAPTER PLEASE! thank you. And sorry it took so long to update too. Plz REVIEW EVERY CHAPTER!


	5. Weirdness, But Not The Funny Kind

_Desperate for changing_

_Starving for truth_

_Closer to where I started_

_Chasing after you_

_I'm falling even more in love with you_

_Letting go of all I've held onto_

_Standing here until you make me move_

_Hanging by a moment here with you_

_Forgetting all I'm lacking_

_Completely incomplete_

_I'll take your invitation_

_You take out of me_

_I'm falling even more in love with you_

_Letting go of all I've held onto_

_Standing here until you make me move_

_I'm hanging by a moment here with you_

_I'm living for the only thing I know_

_I'm running in a crash to where to go_

_And I don't know why I'm to be here too_

_Just hanging by a moment here with you_

_There's nothing else to lose_

_There's nothing else to find_

_There's nothing in the world_

_That could change my mind_

_There's nothing else_

_There's nothing else_

_There's nothing else_

_Desperate for changing_

_Starving for truth_

_Closer to where I started_

_Chasing after you_

I woke sometime in the evening. My clock glowed 6:32, but to me, it felt later than that. The sun was almost completely gone and my room was just barely light enough to make out what was what. I found my way to my door and entered the brightly lit hallway. I smelled dinner cooking and my stomach churned. I hope Sam's cooking, or at least Dad. Anybody but Mom would be okay, but somehow I knew he was cooking.

I sensed Sam's power below me and Mom's in the kitchen. Damn, I have eat Mom's cooking. Oh well, I guess it's better than… or not. No, nothing's worse than my mom's cooking. I could already smell the burnt ham and was that fruit? Ham and apples, hmm, yum? My stomach churned again as I imagined myself eating that. It wasn't pretty, but I was hungry. I sensed Sam coming upstairs, her levitation power made it take only seconds because she didn't have to climb the steps. She appeared at the railing as I rested my back against the closed door to my bedroom.

"It's about time you got up. What'd you do, fight some guy for five hours?" Sam asked. Actually, yes, that was pretty much what I did, for five hours, too. I wouldn't be surprised anyway. I just nodded, not knowing how to respond.

"Dinner's ready!" Mom called from the kitchen. We both frowned and didn't want to go downstairs, but we had to.

"Eat up, Witch, because Mom's finally in a good mood and I want to go to the mall on Monday after class." Sam dropped downstairs and I, grimly, followed after her. I really, really, didn't want to eat Mom's cooking. I could already taste the horrors of the meal.

I entered the kitchen and wondered if I could fake a stomachache. Would Mom fall for that? Probably not, I had used it too many times before. Plus, if I did, Sam would probably hurt me for upsetting Mom and not being allowed to go the mall on a school day. Why did she want to go there anyway? The mall was full of people who wasted hours just trying on clothes. What's the big deal about that?

Mom set a plate of blackened ham and nearly frozen strawberries in front of me. 'Please, let me get out of dinner somehow,' I begged. 'Please!' I poked the ham that jiggled slightly. Even rubber smothered in steak sauce would taste better than this. I bet Zach would be having the time of his life if he ate this stuff, but I wasn't and wouldn't be. I suddenly lost the feeling of Sam's power as she sneezed.

"I'm not feeling well," Sam frowned. That was true; her power was blinking in and out. It was like the students from the school. She was paling and cold sweat formed in miniscule beads on her forehead. From one sneeze, this all happened. Why couldn't I get it? I was the one who wanted out of this dinner! Now, I have to eat seconds!

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. You should go to bed early tonight. Hopefully, you'll feel better in the morning," Mom frowned. She picked up Sam's plate as my sister made her way to the stairs. She had to hold onto the railing because her power wouldn't lift her and she wasn't used to climbing up it. I watched her go and begged for something like that to happen to me. Why can't I miss this dinner?

"Tal, I'm feeling a little under the weather as well. I'll be upstairs if you need me. Make sure you clean up when you're finished eating." Mom sneezed and left the room. I almost cheered, but I knew she would find some other way to force feed us the food. I had to throw it away to make it look like I ate seconds. I quickly threw it all in the food processor and put it on low. I waited and listened to it growl.

Yuck, the smell of the food is just as bad as it tastes. I made sure that every last sign of it was thrown away or swallowed by the sink. I just hope the sink won't try to give it back. I really didn't want to see regurgitated sink food. It didn't help my none-existent appetite any. I just grabbed my stomach and walked away. Why did Sam want me to eat everything then get out of it without taking a bite? She must really feel sick.

I checked on their powers, but I couldn't sense either of theirs. Great, my powers are on the fritz, again! Do I still have that second-vision thing or whatever it was? I tried to check, but the lights were on and I could get myself to change into it. Yep, they were on the fritz. I really need to go see the nurse or something about that, maybe she could help. I hope so, but school's starting sooner or later and I had to try and check on Sage.

I walked outside where I knew, if she had that second vision thing like I did then maybe she would see me. I pulled out my notebook and wrote "Hi, I'm looking for Sage."

Nothing happened. My hopes were shot down and almost completely gone. I just shrugged and started on my paper. If I couldn't write to her, I should at least be able to write down the information I know.

_"Somewhere in the vast world lives Sage, a girl with the element of nature. She used to be one of the many elements who were born in the same year."_ That was a total and complete guesswork. _"She had defeated many of opponents and saved many lives. Several of those were Pollute,"_ I still can't believe he calls himself that, _"Mad Hat,"_ Even weirder, _"Destroyer,"_ I wonder what his power was, _"Crow's Eye,"_ Oh, big guess for the superpower there, _"Nightmare,"_ I still can't believe she took him on! Mom had to have help to take him on. It's no wonder why she ran after one of Nightmare's humiliating ways of defeating people. Mom once said that she had a nightmare where she couldn't stop farting, talk about gross! She woke up later and kicked his butt thankfully, _"and Witch._

_"She was a powerful element and was able to convince my mother,"_ no, scratch that off, _"able to convince Witch and Crow's Eye to become good. Unfortunately, she was unable to bring out the good in Destroyer or Pollute and had to put them in solitary where they are to this very day."_ Okay, so I was making up half of this report, but who cares? _"She had taken on Nightmare alone and was defeated. She ran away after that. No one knows why she had run or where too, but she was to be never found again. Some say she is still with us, watching us carefully and seeing if we really want her back. Others say that she is a traitor and abandoned–"_

A thorny plant had managed to find its way around my jeans and poked me on my leg. I looked down at it, not remembering it there before. Where did that come from? What the hell? I freed myself from it and went back to my writing, frowning at the half a page it made. How the hell was I supposed to write three pages out of that?

Right now where was I? _"Others say that she is a traitor and abandoned the people in–"_ Ouch! Stupid thorn! I had to move to the other side of the front step so it would stop poking me, _"in need of help. Very few say that she is still out there and destroying some far away villain to keep us safe. Maybe some darkness in her heart is the villain she must destroy. Maybe she had a vision when she was fighting Nightmare and saw her destroying her friends, family, and innocent lives in general. Maybe she's hiding from it to make sure it will– would– never happen. Perhaps if the vision was given, was it a real one, or one that Nightmare had placed inside of her mind to make sure she would never come back? We may never know._

_"Nightmare was later defeated by another element and sent to solitary. The other element is unknown, but was seen before Nightmare was sent to solitary as a dark shadow during the Dream Scheme of October 31, 2004. He is currently being held in an inhabited location of Alaska deep below the earth's surface."_ Okay, that was a total lie right there, but I need to take up more space. Alright, I wrote down everything I remember and I've taken up… one page. I still have two more to go, damn it! I hate this teacher, she's so revengeful. It was one answer to help one girl, and she gives me this god forsaken assignment! What's her deal?

I shivered and looked around. The trees were rustling and the first signs of fall were coming too quickly in my opinion. Already half of the trees were turning to the browns, reds, oranges, and yellows of autumn. Oh great, soon I have to wear my ugly hand-me-down jacket. I could just hear my mom's voice now as I complained about it.

"But it looks so good on you and it still works so deal with it," she would say. Damn, that thing was a brown that was supposed to be black! I wonder if fifteen washes straight could shrink it just enough for it to be small on me? The last touches of twilight were vanishing from the sky, but I couldn't slip into my second vision like I had in that chamber. It would be really cool if I could though. I'd see the sights of the world and not even move a bodily finger. I'd have to move there another way, but I really just wanted to test how far I could go.

I sensed something near me, but I couldn't pin-point it. I looked around, but nobody was outside. Their power was masked by some invisible protection which didn't help me any, but I could sense things again. Or my powers were still on the fritz and I was just imagining sensing something… no, it was definitely there. I couldn't see anyone though and I have to admit, it was creeping me out! It was like some invisible ninja was watching me, but I couldn't hear, smell, see, feel, or taste him. I could only sense him, or her, you never know. All ninjas aren't guys, some are girls.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" I wrote. Yeah, like they're going to answer a notebook which a mute wrote in, who they're stalking.

"Child of Darkness," something hissed.

Okay, this was freaking me out! Child of Darkness my ass, I'm going to run if it doesn't show itself. The sounds were coming from all around me as the name echoed. What the hell is going on?

"Soul of Pure," it hissed again. The echoes surrounded me and I couldn't tell if there were more or if any things were around me. Shit, what the hell? I still couldn't see anything, but I could sense one being surrounding me completely as if it was what was echoing. "Heart of Black," it hissed next to my ear. I turned and tried to see it, but it was gone.

Let's see, it said "Child of Darkness," "Soul of Pure," and "Heart of Black." Yep, I am definitely going to run just as fast as I can to some place where I could see. I still couldn't slip into my second vision if I had any at all. How was I going to defend myself from whatever is out there?

"Feast upon the body of Mind," it hissed again. I suddenly got my appetite back and regretted not grabbing a snack. I couldn't sense what kind of power it had, but I'm guessing it had something to do with mental powers. Now for the test, could I move? I tried moving my arms and legs, but I could only move my head. In other words, shit I'm fucked.

"Grind to dust the body of Stone," it hissed again. Maybe it wasn't a person, but an animal or insect. No, I couldn't see anything in the darkness of night other than movements and this thing was holding very still. I felt the need to crush something between my fingers, but I still resisted, not knowing exactly what the body of Stone is anyway.

"Burn the body of Ice." It started laughing as I resisted its commands again. I was not going to do whatever it was telling me to! I wasn't going to set fire to some ice block! Could someone really do that in the first place?

"Drown the body of Fire," it hissed again. Right, drowning fire was possible, but no thanks. "Pierce the body of Anna." Finally, it said a name that I could understand, but there must be over fifty Anna's throughout the world, how was I suppose to find the right one?

"Smother the body of Air," it ordered. Its hissing was slowly becoming less of a hiss and more of an irritated command. "Raise the body of Water."

Oh, I get it now. Actually, no, I don't, but Air, Water, Anna, Fire, Ice, Stone, Mind, all of them are elements. I wonder if whatever it is will try and get me to kill off Sage. Or, maybe it is Sage! God, Sage is evil? No wonder she went into hiding! Shit, I'm going to get my ass kicked by plants! And I forgot to grab my pocket knife and chain from my room! All I have is my bracelet of the butterfly, yeah, I'm doomed.

"Free the body of Nature," it hissed. Yep, Sage was evil and using her second vision thingy to force me into becoming her slave so I would destroy her friends and free her from her entrapment in whatever place it was. Perfect ending to a perfect day, don't you think? Considering that I had to use up all my energy fighting Ben, running away from his dad, trying to climb into the house without being noticed and almost falling to my death, my powers being on the fritz again, and to top it all of, I'm being ordered and controlled to kill some innocent lives to free some evil girl, no it wasn't a good day.

"Now go, do what you have been commanded," it ordered. The hissing was completely gone from its voice when I hesitated. I was tired, becoming pissed off, and not in the mood to be ordered around, especially when it involved killing people. I've had my fair share of deaths already and I wasn't going to be ordered around by some freak of nature. (Okay, freak of nature was not supposed to be a pun.)

"Go now, Child of Darkness! Do what destiny has foretold! Kill them all! None of them may live!" it ordered. The voice was slightly girlish, but it sounded rough and dry, manly. Maybe it was only pretending to be Sage and it was some kind of bad boyfriend? Or just one of Sage's servants/slaves, you never know.

I was extremely curious to see the elements at work, but if it risked killing them, I wasn't going to do it. I wasn't going to kill off some random people, especially the fifty to one hundred Anna's in the world. That must be for animals I think, it would only make sense to fit there.

"Why do you resist? Come to my call. Aid me in the fight. Do what I command!" Its voice had lost all girlish sounds to it now and it was definitely a guy's. It sounded slightly familiar, like I had heard of it before… weird.

Really, did the voice really think I was going to obey it? What a loser! He can just go and drown in a pool of his blood for all I care! No, that brings up too horrible memories for me, he shouldn't do that or else I might just need to have my memories pushed back again. Who did it last time? I know it was some old guy who had the world's longest beard that dragged on the ground, but that's all I could remember.

"I can grant you what you wish," it said mockingly. "I can grant you anything when you free me. Do you accept?"

"No!" I said. Wait, I actually said that! My voice is back?

Okay, to keep you guys up to date on why I'm so surprised is when that guy who wanted to mug me slammed me against the brick wall, he had the power to control people and thus, destroyed my vocal cords so I couldn't speak, ever. I don't like telling people that because then they'll want to have surgery done and all so keep it a secret. But now I'm talking! I'm actually talking! Wow, I've never really remembered that my voice sounded like that.

"That's too bad, your wish cannot be granted then," it laughed.

"Wait," I tried to say, but I only mouthed the words. My voice was lost again. I wanted to cry, it got my hopes up just to shoot them down again. Is killing those people really worth my voice? I want my voice back. I just heard it and now it's gone forever. Damn it! I want it back! "Wait!" I quickly wrote. I realized my handwriting was very sloppy and I'd be amazed if he could actually read it, but it was gone. My hopes were dead and buried.

I could've had my voice. I could've talked to people again. I could've started… No, I won't think about that. I've lived with my loss of voice for five years now and one word won't change anything. But I had spoken it. I had said something. I had been heard! No! No, no, no, no, I will not think about it!

"You could have been great. You could've been what you really wanted. You could have whatever you want if you set her free." The voice faded away into the breeze and disappeared completely. I want my voice back, and I do need an interview… but no, it would be wrong to kill. I've had my fair share of deaths, trust me, one is enough. It's more than enough considering who it was, but I won't get into that. Once again, court order prohibits me from giving that away. Of course I'll break that law some time later, but I'll try to keep it a secret for a little longer.

I could have been. I could have been great, what I really wanted, whatever I wanted, and all I had to do was set Sage free. Did my teacher know that I was being "persuaded" to join the villains by freeing an element that is most likely evil? Is my teacher in on this evil plot to make me help destroy the world? Should I do it?

On one hand, I would have my voice back and be able to show off my power a lot easier. I could possibly become a hero too and make my parents proud. I haven't really told them I made sidekick and not hero. Part of me never wants to tell them at all. Maybe if I get my voice back I could be able to do what I really wanted in life. The dream of being a singer was broken by that stupid man, but now I have a chance to regain that dream!

On the other hand, I would have to kill off innocent people, free an evil girl, and do whatever some weird voice tells me to do. I would have to find them all too, and that's a long ways away. Not to mention they can fly, start fires, change into animals, make tidal waves, cause earthquakes, and create me-sickles. Don't forget about all of the other elements he didn't mention and will most likely want me to kill as well so whoever that was could gain the ultimate power. And to top it all off, he'd probably try to destroy the world like most bad guys do.

"Hey, Witch, what are you doing outside?" Sam asked from her window above me. I couldn't sense her power and I wondered why. Was it my powers or hers that were on the fritz? Most likely mine, I probably had some sort of power overload to get into that second vision stage.

I waved up at her and broke my train of thought. I sensed her powers flickering and dying. Why were they doing that? It was like someone turning on and off a light switch before the bulb burnt out. I looked at her shaking shoulders and her pale, almost ghostly white, face. She wasn't going to make it to class on Monday. Is Mom alright? Or is she sick with the same thing?

I wanted to go check and I couldn't sense her powers from out here. I walked into the front door, noticing that the thorn plant that had attacked me earlier was nowhere to be seen. The house was really quiet and I'm guessing that Sam and Mom had fallen asleep. I wouldn't be surprised, but Sam's symptoms were just like my ex-teammate from Save the Citizen. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of trying to help them, or staying out of the house so I wouldn't get sick. Either way, it wasn't going to be a good Sunday.

I collapsed onto my bed, still tired from fighting with Ben. At least I had my rematch, but I'm not sure it was completely fair, since I got that second me to pick him up. What the hell was that in that room? Was that really my second body or was it mind powers or what? Ah! Too many questions! I can't answer any of these either, damn. I'll have to finish my homework tomorrow then. I fell asleep slowly and forgot to write in my journal, but too tired to care. I'll do it in the morning.

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A/N, to all those reviewers, do you want to know the cold, depressing truth, or do you want to know the happy lie that I'm about to tell you. Well, too bad, you get to know both. The lie is that I had writers block and couldn't write down this chapter, not to mention all the homework I keep getting and how many story requests I have, but that's not totally a lie. It's true I am on writer's block for this story and I do have a crud load of homework, but the chapters are prewritten and I had gotten a new computer about five months ago so I sent all of my stories to that one thinking that it'd be alright, but then I had completely forgotten that I had been writing this one from all my other ones and I truly am sorry so I hope you forgive me, but I won't be able to update for some time. I have to go to my dad's for a week and he doesn't have internet. Well, he does, but it moves slower than a dead snail and that's if that stupid and obviously unneeded parental block didn't go off on high alert. It is super sensitive and I was even blocked out of google until Dad came to okay the site. No I do not watch anything dirty thank you very much! I guess you can't trust my brother though... He's one year, two months, sixteen days, eighteen hours, and forty-three minutes older than I am. Yes, I have it down to the very second too. I'm so proud. Well, I'm going to shut up and let you move on to review this chapter hopefully and maybe disregard that fact that I haven't updated in like ever and it would be nice if you guys breathed down my back about it a little more. I've been kind of flaky, even for myself, which is very depressing. But then again, start breathing after June 3 please because that's when I get out of school. LOL sorry, I said I was going to shut up and now look at me, well, okay, I'm shutting up now.

Sorry again, but I've heard that some asshole has been stealing stories and putting them under a different name on other fanfiction sites so if you see him, kill him to an inch of his afterlife so I can finish him off. Please and thank you, now I'm shutting up for real.


	6. Jailbreak

_Sometimes I need to remember just to breathe  
Sometimes I need you to stay away from me  
Sometimes I'm in disbelief I didn't know  
Somehow I need you to go_

Chorus:  
Don't stay  
Forget our memories  
Forget our possibilities  
What you were changing me into  
Just give me myself back and  
Don't stay  
Forget our memories  
Forget our possibilities  
Take all your faithlessness with you  
Just give me myself back and  
Don't stay

Sometimes I feel like I trusted you too well  
Sometimes I just feel like screaming at myself  
Sometimes I'm in disbelief I didn't know  
Somehow I need to be alone

Chorus

I don't need you anymore, I don't want to be ignored  
I don't need one more day of you wasting me away  
I don't need you anymore, I don't want to be ignored  
I don't need one more day of you wasting me away

With no apologies

Chorus

Don't stay

Don't stay

I woke to my alarm radio. I didn't remember turning the alarm on, but I couldn't get back asleep. I just stayed on my bed and looked at my ceiling. The first rays of dawn were just breaking through the thick clouds outside. Did it rain last night? I must have slept though it. I normally am a light sleeper though.

Everything that happened last night just felt like an odd dream. Like it never really happened, but I know it did. I had _spoken. _I had said 'no' but he took that away from me. Would he come back? Would I get another chance? Or was I doomed to my life of silence? All I wanted was another chance…

I turned over on my pillow to re-adjust my aching neck. I had slept in a bad position, and I noticed my pillow was wet. Had I cried during the night? No, the window was open. I felt the chill of the morning flooding the warm room as the heater tried its hardest to keep it warm. I wanted to help it somehow, to help win the fight against the cold. I just crept under my blankets further and tried to fall asleep again, but the radio was still playing.

I rolled over and looked at the bright red 7:03 that lit up part of the dark room. I hit the top button and turned off the alarm. This morning was Sunday, homework day. Don't forget that my family was sick and I had to take care of them too. I tried to listen for a cough or sneeze, but there was none. Both of their powers were gone, or mine powers were. What's going on here? Why is this sickness affecting only people with powers? Is it affecting people without powers? It's not affecting me though…

I was just being overly suspicious, that's all. I needed to do my homework and pulled my backpack up to me. Better get started on it now, or else I might not get a chance to finish it. It took me an hour, but I finished all of it by eight. I listened to Sam and Mom, but they were still sleeping quietly. Mom's heavy breathing sounded dry and cracking, Sam's didn't sound any better, but they were sleeping. Sleep helps people heal and fight infection so they were fine. Then why couldn't I shake this bad feeling from my gut?

I grumbled quietly to myself and left the house to find something to do. There should be some sort of park nearby where I can find something to do. I grabbed my rollerblades and strapped them on in the garage. I needed to loosen up my stiff and sore muscles. I felt my back as its giant purple spot was slowly fading. I wonder if someone in Sky High has healing power. That would help.

One more day until I go back and get a bad grade from my teacher. One more day until I can find out what this epidemic is all about. Just one more day until I get to go school and meet up with Ben. I wanted a fair rematch, no funny walls or anything. I still can't believe he gave me half f his oxygen back there. He would have won if he didn't, but I guess it was for the same reason I saved him from falling into that pit of darkness.

I patted my pocket, feeling the familiar shape of my group of chains and my pocket knife. I wasn't in the mood to fight him today and if anyone thought otherwise, well, they'd just have to deal with it. I kept rollerblading down the same street without turning. That way, I couldn't get lost on my way back. I turned onto the side walk as a car drove by and jumped back onto the road once it left. This neighborhood was slowly decreasing in its light, happy, rich neighborhood feeling. It was more like gang filled alleyways and shifty sidewalk vendors now. Maybe I went the wrong way…

"Hey you," a guy with a giant trench coat on nodded towards me. "You want something I can help you with?"

'No retard I want you to leave me alone,' I thought as I looked at him. I just shook my head no and kept on the road. I looked behind me and made sure that guy wasn't following me. I heard the squeal of brakes trying to stop tires and turned. In a flash, my second nature took in and I jumped over the car. I landed badly though and broke my wheels off of my right blade, crashing to the ground. Thankfully, I was wearing pads so I didn't get hurt that badly, but it did hurt.

"I'm so sorry." A man rushed over and bent down as I still lay on the ground, looking up at the sky. "Are you alright Miss? I was just turning the corner and then I saw you. I couldn't stop fast enough." He put his arms around my once again pain-filled bruised back and helped me stand on my broken rollerblades.

'No, I'm fine. Really, I get hit by cars everyday.' I rolled my eyes mentally and smiled up at the man. He looked back to the car and nodded. Before I could do anything, a swarm of men ran out of the car and came at me. My leg still hurt from the bad landing and the man wouldn't let go of me. How was I going to get out of this one?

"She's the one. Get her into the car, quickly." The man ordered. I noticed his muscles holding onto me tightly and his eyes told me he was slightly nervous. He completely masked that from his voice though as more men approached me with caution. They were nervous and not even hiding it from their faces. I think they're scared of me. This ought to be fun.

I suddenly pinched the man's nerve on his arm and he let go on reflex. Everyone jumped away from me as if I were some sort of mad killer. I'm not a killer! One of the men was brave enough to jump out of the circle the men had formed and tried to attack me. I jumped over his dive, but I didn't land as I had hoped and tripped over his body. I landed on my butt, bringing pain back into my leg, back, and now, tailbone.

"Get her!" the first man shouted as he ran at me. I struggled to get up, but the man who was on the ground grabbed my pain-filled leg and I wanted to scream with pain. I noticed fear in his face as he held onto me for dear life. I pulled out my pocket knife and pulled out the needle. I threw it quickly at the first man, I'm guessing their leader, and he dropped to the ground. He was only paralyzed for a few minutes, but I only had three needles against somewhere around ten men so I couldn't redo it.

I pulled out another one and threw it at the closest guy towards me. I managed to get the needle right on target and he was done for the day. The rest backed off, but wouldn't run. Damn it, I don't want to kill these guys! Why don't they just run like normal people should?

"Our master said that you had to come with us or she'd be angry," one of them stated. He walked in front of the crowd and I pulled out my needle, the man still holding my leg shied away from this man, but he didn't let go.

"Yes, our master wishes to see you and we will do whatever it takes to get you to her castle." A woman walked out of the crowd, she looked so familiar, but I couldn't remember where from. The man holding my leg shied away even more and was practically ducking behind me.

"Oh, please, leave the poor girl alone. I'm sick of waiting for you to hold her anyway." A different woman walked out and I figured she must be the leader. The man who was on the ground behind me was just the driver.

Everyone backed away from her. One man hadn't noticed her and turned just in time to see her hand as she slapped him across the face. He was sent sprawling into the crowd. What a mean woman. She looked familiar as well, but I still couldn't remember where from.

"You poor child, my driver must have scared you by grabbing you like that. I told my slaves to only grab you, not hurt you, but you can never trust them," she sighed. "Come here, my dear, let me heal those wounds of yours."

I felt my body being pulled to her and I struggled against it. I refused to put one foot in front of the other, but my body wasn't listening and kept moving. A feeling of helpless dread washed over me and I could only struggle more to try to break free from this woman's control on me.

I stood in front of her, not sure whether I should run or fight. Hell, I'm not sure if I could run, let alone fight this evil woman. The woman put her soft, but cold hands under my chin and a feeling of empty warmth spread through my body. My back, leg, and tailbone instantly stopped throbbing and I could almost feel the purple turning back to normal skin color. Some of the cold warmth lingered in my throat and I wondered if she was strong enough to heal it.

"You poor, poor child, you shouldn't be out on the streets alone," she chided gently. I felt myself wanting to do whatever she commanded, to be her right hand woman and follow her every whim. No, no I couldn't do that. I had to get back and take care of my sister and mother.

"Excuse me, but it is becoming time," one of the men from the crowd spoke.

The woman's face twisted with rage as the crowd parted away from the man. The woman stalked up to him and slapped him across the face like she did that other man. I felt the pull towards her instantly break.

"Bitch!" I yelled. It did heal me, but I didn't want to get my hopes up like I had last time. As the saying goes, "God give-eth, God take-eth away." My voice sounded strange to my ears, almost like it wasn't mine.

The woman's face became hideously twisted as she tried to give one of her fake motherly smiles and barely contain all the anger that swelled up in her. She stared straight at me and I almost wanted to beg for forgiveness under the pressure. I refused to let her know I was scared though. I refused to let myself I believe I was scared. I should, no, I could, no; I would stand up to this woman.

"I'm sorry dearest, but what did you call me?" Her voice was still light and motherly towards me. I wanted to run from her view and hide behind the houses nearby, but I couldn't move. My mind refused to let me move my body.

"I called you a B- B-" I couldn't say the word. My voice was failing fast and pain was slowly growing in my back and leg. I tried to talk again but I couldn't. My voice was lost, again. If I could only speak one word a day then why the hell am I wasting it on these words? I would be saying something more useful, like asking for Sage if I could contact her. I still needed my interview.

"Now, look what you've done. You've broken my healing spell," she frowned. "Tsk, tsk, come here and let me heal you again."

Her voice sounded so smooth, so soft. Her face was already turning back to its motherly smile and I knew I couldn't resist her commands over my body. Somehow she could control them, but I couldn't sense anyone's power throughout the crowd. Did she have magic? Or was it just her voice that forced me to come towards her? No, my powers were on the fritz, yet again. There was just no way she controlled me without powers.

I wanted to back away when the woman touched my chin. The same empty warmth came over me and stopped my back and leg from throbbing. It felt good to not be in pain, but I didn't want to feel good around her. She lowered herself to my eye level and stared through me as if she were looking into my soul. My dark green eyes were expressionless, for I had practiced to make it that way whenever I got in trouble with Mom or Dad.

She smiled at me and pulled away. She looked towards her slaves and ordered them to put me in the car. I couldn't fight them. I was forced to open my hand by that woman and I dropped my pocket knife. I struggled only a little against the tight grasp of the slaves who were, just like me, being controlled without wanting to be. They were afraid of her because she could kill them if she wanted to, but she still had to control them to make sure they did her bidding. That means she lied to me when she said she had ordered them not to hurt me. That lying bitch!

"Ah, young Crystal, do you know who I am?" she asked as she stepped into the black van. It was a lot bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Twelve people could fit in here comfortably with machines humming and roaring, computers blinking and showing information and generators tucked into corners so the van's battery wouldn't be killed by all of it.

I could only shake my head at the question, fearing to let my tongue slip up again. I had my voice, now all I had to do was run and I'd get to keep it. She seemed dismayed by my unknowing and simply chuckled to herself after showing a frown. "Of course, Witch would never tell her daughter about me. She hated me for so long. It's too bad she won't see her daughter ever again, unable to tell her about all of the dangerous enemies she had made when she became a spy for the heroes." The woman looked me in the eyes again and I couldn't look away. "I am one of whom you are looking for. I am the fire inside you that makes you struggle against me. I am the element that strikes fear into many a heart. I am Ember of Fire."

I flinched. According to that weird night last night, I was supposed to drown her. My thoughts on Sage being evil were being questioned and confirmed at the some time. Of course Sage is evil if Ember is. No, she needed to be released and saved that way she had to be good because she is being held by evil people. No, that wouldn't make sense because they were her friends. But they _were_ her friends. That doesn't mean they still are. Has any of the elements become evil before this? Was she just lying to make me scared?

"I see you have heard of me, very good. You shall be the new protector of the jails. Somehow, Sage had gotten out last night and is trying to get out again. You must never let her out or else I will do more to you than just causing your body to throb with undying pain." Her voice was threatening, scary, and most of all, not motherly. That made me break out of her spell and I blinked a few times. She didn't notice and I didn't move unless she commanded me to. I had to release Sage, remember? God, I hope we get there fast. My Mom had forgotten to remind me that I was grounded, but that doesn't stop her from punishing me if she does remember. Not to mention that both she and Sam are very sick and they're power is dying as every second passes.

"We're here," Ember said after a few moments of quietly sitting. I didn't feel the car speed up or jump or take off from the ground or anything, but we were definitely not close to anywhere where I know. It was snowing, it was freezing, and my t-shirt and jeans didn't help me much from the freezing, snowy cold. I couldn't resist shivering. Ember grabbed my arm and heated me up, but I didn't move or do anything she didn't order me too just in case she realized her control was broken.

"Master, we have arrived, but the original guard is nowhere to be seen. Was he taken out or had you removed him from his position?" one of the slaves boldly asked. I closed my eyes when she reached out, but she didn't hit him.

"Yes, I had him… taken care of earlier this morning. This is the new guard. She will be posted in his place. If you would so kindly show her to her position," Ember smiled. I opened my eyes to see she was caressing his cheek gently. I could feel her wanting to hit him for talking to her, but he bowed and put his hand behind my back.

He led me away from that dreadful woman and I almost sighed with relief. She got back into the car, but the feeling of warmth never left me. The man led me into an empty hallway and glanced around the corners before turning back to me. He seemed happy and upset at the same time.

"You've got some strength to break her control, but don't let anyone see it. The room the Sage is in nullifies powers and changes them to pain. That wench will be alerted immediately if someone steps in or out at the wrong time so we have to get her out during one of those times. You will have to fake like you can stand there for several hours since she had just gotten fed two hours ago." He looked at me curiously as I showed no emotion. "Don't you know how to speak? Come on girl, show something!"

I blinked up at him and frowned. What was I supposed to say? "Are there any throwing weapons I can use?" I asked. God, it really felt weird to be able to speak.

The man looked at me strangely before nodding. "I'll bring you them later. Right now we have to get you into the right place. You're right outside the door so you'll be the one feeding her. She needs to be hand fed and she will try to refuse the food. Don't let her, she needs it to survive."

He looked around the corners again before putting his hand on my back and leading me towards her door. I looked a lot older than I was and thankfully only a few people stared at me as I stopped by her door and stood at attention like I had seen on TV. It got boring fast. No sounds came from Sage's room, the man who had led me here was gone, and I had to get home! Not to mention, I have to add stuff to my mental checklist so I could figure out what the voice was, who the bomber was, get my interview, do whatever that voice told me to do to destroy the evil elements, and figure out why the hell I was here in the first place.

What was I supposed to do with Ember… was it set her on fire, no, grind her to dust, no, um, it was drown her. Yeah, that's right. I was supposed to drown her in a frozen wasteland. Great, just great, and I hate killing too! How was I supposed to get her face under water anyway? She puts me under her control anytime I get close.

"Hey, I recognize you," a voice came from behind me. It sounded of an aged woman who had spent her life repenting something for a very long time. It made my heart break to hear her cracked, dry words, muffled by the thick door.

"You're Sage right?" I asked. Hey, I had to make sure.

"Yes, and you're the daughter of Witch. You have to get me out before–" Sage stopped as another woman walked by.

"Yeah, we're working on a way out now. I need you to promise me something before I get you out though. You have to promise that you'll give me an interview after we escape," I murmured.

I could feel her confusion as she stayed silent. "I promise, but why do you need an interview?" she asked after a time.

"I need to show my teacher that I can beat her at her own game," I explained. Another guard walked by and we were quiet. I could hear her chuckling a little as the guard left.

"Time to eat!" A guard yelled from the other side of the room. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to leave my post or not to get the food. A small boy ran up to me with one of the trays and answered my question without talking. He gave me the tray and a key. I opened the door and suck the key in my pocket.

A very thin and frail woman around the same age as Ember and Mom was sitting on a makeshift bed, still smiling. She turned her head towards me and chuckled weakly as I handed her the tray. She didn't seem strong enough to survive here at all. She needed a place to stay, a place to be warm, and a place to be loved.

She picked at the food, eating small bites now and then. "Is it poisoned?" she asked.

"Not that I know of, no." Why would it be poisoned? Did they want to kill her after keeping her for so long? "Eat up."

She did eat every crumb as if she were starving and hadn't eaten in months. I was about to leave when I saw a form at the door. It was the boy. He winked at me and changed into the man who had led me to my post. I grabbed Sage's hand and pulled her from the bed. She was dangerously light and I could lift her if I needed to, but I would save that strength for once hers failed.

I pulled her out of the doorway and turned, locked it, and began running as fast as I could. I followed that man to the exit where we were met with a blistering cold night. I could feel my second eyes opening and I blinked out of confusion. The man kept running, but I could make out a few people waiting for us by a fence farther down with my second vision. I reached down and stopped him with it. He seemed scared, but I was more than overjoyed at this new power.

I grabbed his form and pulled him back before anyone had noticed a white outline of a hand and dropped him in front of my physical body. I went back into my first vision and saw his utter confusion and Sage's weary happiness.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

"You surely are the daughter of Dark," Sage said happily. I still had no idea how I got my second vision back, but I didn't care. I still had to find some way to get us all out of here. I reached down with my second vision and picked up all three of us, but I wasn't sure if I could walk or run or move anywhere. I was the dark around me, but my town was still being showered in daylight. I couldn't get us there even if I knew where it was.

"Where are we?" I asked. I could feel my voice losing its strength with every word I said.

"We're somewhere on Mt. Everest. If we could just get to–" he explained.

"How the hell did we end up here? The ride only took three minutes!" I exclaimed. I had to shout to make myself heard as a normal voice. My back was starting to throb and my leg wanted to collapse and be numbed by the cold snow. I felt my tailbone not wanting to be moved at all.

"All of them have more than just their element because of the orb, we have to find Aqua and destroy it," Sage explained. I slipped into my second vision and picked all three of us up. My physical form laid on my black hand as Sage and the man hung onto whatever they could find.

"Ouch, don't pinch me so hard!" I screamed. My voice was just a whisper, but my message was heard and they let go slightly. I started walking, and I almost didn't realize I was walking with my physical body until the man yelled at me. I quickly rushed back to the middle and slipped into my second vision. I tried walking with this vision and it was like walking through syrup. I couldn't see where my black legs or black anything but my hand was.

"Stay in–" my voice cut out and I could speak no longer. I wanted to tell them to stay inside and don't look over, but I didn't have my voice any longer. My leg was throbbing painfully and my back hurt worse than it had when I had fallen on it. I kept walking in my second vision past all of the men down by the fence. In one giant leap, I made it all the way down Mt. Everest.

Oh, yeah, I could get used to this kind of travel. I ran through the syrup and reached the ocean. I took a step into it and felt the coldness under me. I took another step and I realized I was walking on the water. I am God, okay, so I'm not, but this is really cool!

"You can fly!" Sage yelled to my physical ears. I heard her and wondered if I really could. I jumped up from the ground, trying not to bounce my hand too much. I waited to come down, but I didn't. I stayed in the syrupy air. I pushed my second body forward and it moved. It moved over the surface of the water and I goofed around, dodging waves and sticking my second hand in them. I couldn't feel anything with my second hand though. It passed through the water as if it weren't there.

I could feel the strain on my physical body as all signs of healing were being diminished and parts of me that weren't hurting were beginning to. Ember was powerful enough to cause searing pain erupt within my body. As if I didn't have a big enough bruise in the first place!

I felt a pull on my second body's leg and turned with it. I could see a red body standing furiously on top of the water. I couldn't speak, but I didn't have to, Ember didn't wait for me to explain myself. She started throwing fireballs at me and I flew through the black syrup, trying to dodge them. I didn't know how to fight her here!

I remembered what that voice had told me, but how was I supposed to drown her? I took in a deep breath and closed my hand tightly. I hope everyone can swim, because there's no other way. I dived into the water, trying to stay near the surface so the pressure doesn't harm my passengers, but I couldn't feel it at all in my second body.

Fire balls were extinguished as soon as they hit the water and I could hear how furious Ember was and swam as fast as I could away from her. The water was her weakness, perfect. I'm the daughter of the element of dark trying to swim away from the element fire who can surly just fly over the water. Wow, I'm a genius for swimming under. And now I have limited oxygen for my passengers.

I jumped out of the water and flew into the air to let them breath as Ember was looking around for me. I needed some sort of idea to get away from her. "Her body, find her body, the shadow can only be five miles away from the physical body!" Sage shouted. Her voice was too weak to make much noise apart from Ember's furious shouting, but my first body had heard her.

I quickly saw her hand wrapping around what looked like a doll, but I knew it wasn't a doll. I needed to get that out of her hand. I mouthed the words hold on in my first vision and closed my hands around everyone. I flew over, trying to think stealth, invisibility, and sneak, nothing else. I flew silently towards the giant red woman and stopped above her head. I gathered up as much strength as I could and shoved her red form into the water.

She stopped just above the water, but I had predicted that. I flew straight down at her and she swam out from under me, but she crashed into a wave and water soaked her. She screamed as her red form vanished and her body fell into the sea below. I wondered if I should help her or not. She was evil, but it was wrong to kill.

Not killing won. I flew down after her and picked up her unconscious body. Man, I still have to get home! I have a paper to write! I flew around the waves with a better intention of getting home before anything else tried to stop me. I was getting tired, angry, and irritated. Why the hell does everyone want to bother me? Why can't they just go destroy the world like every other bad guy?

I made it to the beach of North America and stumbled on the ground. The last rays of sunset disappeared against the western sky as I collapsed onto the warm, soft sand. Sleep felt good. Sleep felt needed. I needed sleep and it felt good to close my eyes. I listened to the distant sounds of the man and Sage talking, but I couldn't make out any of the words they said. I didn't care. I had just flown over one hundred miles of water, one hundred miles of land, and I had to fight some evil lady who shot fire at me. I deserve this sleep!


	7. Last Stand

_Please come now I think I'm falling  
I'm holding on to all I think is safe  
It seems I found the road to nowhere  
And I'm trying to escape  
I yelled back when I heard thunder  
But I'm down to one last breath  
And with it let me say  
Let me say_

Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down

I'm looking down now that it's over  
Reflecting on all of my mistakes  
I thought I found the road to somewhere  
Somewhere in His grace  
I cried out 'Heaven save me'  
But I'm down to one last breath  
And with it let me say  
Let me say

Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down

Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
maybe six feet  
Ain't so far down  
I'm so far down

Sad eyes follow me  
But I still believe there's something left for me  
So please come stay with me  
Cause I still believe there's something left for you and me  
For you and me  
For you and me

Hold me now  
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking

(Refrain)

I opened my eyes to the smell of disinfectant and a bright white color. I had to blink several times before I was able to see any light at all. I looked around and noticed the empty room was filled with pamphlets about diseases and doctor's tools. Why was I here? How did I get here? And why can't I feel my leg?

I looked down at my leg that was in a cast. I didn't know I had broken it. Maybe Ember did that to me. I couldn't feel it through all the numbness that was filled inside of it. I sat up, not taking my leg out of the hook that held it above me. I bent my back and noticed I couldn't feel it either. I turned towards a mirror and saw the purplish bruise on my back, still fading, but it did cover most of my back.

"Um, Crystal, it is Crystal, right? Well, we need to get going soon," the man said. He seemed tired as if he had been working all night long. I took my leg out of the mini-hammock and grabbed some nearby crutches. I limped out of the door and followed him as he showed me the way out. Crap, I was late for school! I was going to miss class and my interview!

Then again, I could get an extra day on it… no, I needed to go to see the kids. One of them had to be the mysterious bomber. Damn, why did I put so much on my checklist? I froze when I saw Ember smiling at Sage. Were they under her control again? Sage noticed me first and ran to give me a hug. I'm guessing she forgot about my back and I winced in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but you were just so drained that I was afraid you might not have survived. Are you alright? You don't feel feint do you? Do you need to sit down?" Sage seemed to have more energy than a starving person should. Now that I realize it, she was a lot stronger too. But how did she get so healthy so fast?

Ember walked over and kneeled in front of me. "I ask you of your forgiveness. I did not mean to force you, thank you for freeing me."

"You're welcome," I mouthed. I couldn't speak, my voice was gone again. Damn it, this is not a good time to lose my voice again! I frowned. Ember had seen me mouth the words and hugged me gently before walking towards the exit.

"Where are we?" I wanted to ask. I had no idea where we were as we stepped out of the brightly lit doctor's office and into the even brighter midday sun. I blinked again, trying to get used to all this light. I felt a headache coming on and frowned again. Yeah, like I needed more pain.

"Where will we find Anna? I know she lives here, but she never told me exactly where," Ember sighed. Wait, I'm late for school, and we're looking for some animal element. Shit, these people are crazy!

I snuck a piece of paper out of an unsuspecting woman's purse and grabbed a pen from a back pocket of a man's jeans. I quickly wrote down that I had to go to school and showed everyone. They all read it and frowned.

"You mean Sky High? Ah, that brings back a lot of memories. What classes are you in? I bet you have Mad Science with Dr. Medulla, he was one of my favorite teachers," Ember smiled. Truthfully, I had no idea who they were talking about. I had never met anyone named Medulla or had a class about Mad Science.

"We don't know where it is though, it would take too long. We'll have to get you there tomorrow." The man said roughly. Something about him seemed different, but I didn't know what. I tried to see if I could sense anyone's power, but I couldn't. Everything was blurry. Did he have powers?

"I could get us to Anna, but I'm not sure if we're strong enough for that yet," the man sighed. He frowned down at me, seeing if I could stand on my own. I could if it weren't for the stupid cast. I didn't have a broken leg! I had a sprain, tops, nothing more than that! Now let my leg breathe!

"We are strong enough, but how do we break the spell like we did with Ember?" Sage asked. Duh, you guys didn't break the spell, I did! I was the one doing all the work. If it weren't for me, you'd all be dead! The pain-killers were starting to wear off and my leg slowly throbbed.

"Hold on to me tightly," he sighed. He pulled us all close into one big bear hug and closed his eyes. I had some slight experience with teleportation sickness off of TV and closed my eyes as well. We were suddenly jerked to a home and I let go to grab my stomach. That hurt! He could've warned me!

"Sage? Ember? Is that you? John? Who's that other girl with you?" A woman wearing a dark blue skirt and a white shirt ran out to give her long lost friends a hug. Wow, I never realized that I hadn't known John's name and it had been two days with working with him.

"How'd you get free?" Ember asked. Why does it matter? I have to get to school!

"I was accidentally set on fire," the woman answered. Set on fire, she must be Ice. Hmm, who was left?

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Everyone one of the girls hugged Ice before turning towards me.

"I can't talk," I mouthed. It felt even weirder to use my mouth without my voice than it was with my voice. Ice understood and told me to wait right there. I looked around and realized I was in the middle of the road. I wasn't going to wait for a car to hit me, my life was bad enough already!

I moved to the sidewalk and sat down at a nearby bench. These crutches really dig into your armpits and it is really uncomfortable. Ice came out later with some seeds of some sort. I wasn't into agriculture. Sage rushed over and smiled at them. Something gave me the idea that I was going to be swallowing them. I lost my appetite.

One of the brown seeds was placed on my tongue. I couldn't talk or even mouth the words as Sage touched it. I felt it growing in my mouth and struggled to spit it out. It tasted like force fed dirt. I wasn't in the mood to eat dirt, either. I struggled against it, but its roots wrapped around my tongue. I gagged as it traveled down my throat, but it stopped at my throat and seemed to be holding my vocal cords in its roots.

Ember held my mouth open as it healed my throat, but I wasn't happy about it. This was what, the third or fourth time I got my voice back and was going to lose it again. I just had to face it. I wasn't going to get my voice back. I suddenly felt it withdraw from my mouth and I spit out the seed with great distaste. It tasted worse than Mom's cooking! Oh my God, Mom was still sick! I needed to help her!  
"How do you feel?" Sage asked.

"Like I ate dirt," I mumbled. I wonder how Sam would take it, knowing I could talk again.

"Good, come inside and I can test out some healing powers for your back and leg," Ice smiled. Oh, no, no, no, I was not, and I repeat _not_, going to be a test subject!

I grumbled as I was forced to lay down with my shirt pulled up. An icy frozen chill numbed the pain. I grumbled more as Ember burned her way through my cast and another frozen feeling came over me. It was helping, but I didn't want it. I could take care of myself!

"There, that's better," Aqua (Ice's nickname) sighed and sat down. She seemed out of breath and tired, but I was too grumpy to thank her.

"My mom and sister are very sick and I am very late for school and I still have to write my god forsaken paper!" I yelled. It felt good to get my voice back and I strained to hide my smile.

"You mean D had more than one daughter?" Sage frowned.

"No, she didn't. Dad married, had a kid, then divorced her, and then married Mom," I sighed. My half-family in a nutshell, it was half.

"We better go help her. Where does she live?" Ember asked.

"I can't remember the address, but I live in Maxville," I explained.

"I know where that is," John smiled. "Hold on tight."

The gut wrenching pain jerked me in front of the Paper Lantern. I hope Warren doesn't come out. Please don't let Warren come out. He shouldn't right? He's still at school. I looked up at the sun and guessed it was somewhere around eleven or noon. He's still at school. Thank God, he's still at school!

"So where do you live?" John asked. I looked around and saw the familiar road Warren had taken me on.

"It's this way," I showed. My group followed me and I showed them my not so grand house. It had taken a twenty minute walk, but to me, it felt good. I stopped in front of my window and looked up at Sam's window. I couldn't see anything moving inside of it and that made me worried.

Aqua suddenly sneezed and Ember echoed her. They both gave nervous smiles to Sage who didn't seem affected. John coughed to clear his throat as I opened the door. Whatever they're silent language was, I didn't care. I ran up the steps and opened the door to Sam's room. I looked around her room, but she wasn't there. Damn, she must've gone to school. She's too stubborn for her own good.

"Sam? Mom?" I yelled out. It felt really weird to call out their names, but I had to. "Is anyone there?"

I opened the door and peeked inside. No one was in my mom's room. I opened the door to my room and grabbed my pocket knife and chain. I quickly snapped all of the chains together and rinsed it in the sink before going back downstairs. John was still coughing and Ember was frowning. Aqua and Sage were nowhere to be seen. Where'd they go?

"Sam's at school and I don't know where Mom is. Where'd Sage and Aqua go?" I asked.

"We're in the kitchen," Aqua called in a singsong voice. Did every element, except the element that actually had a child, have to be so motherly? I sniffed the air and smelled that macaroni and cheese in the air. My stomach ached for it, but I refused myself to think about it.

"John, can we get up to school? I'm worried about my sister," I admitted. I wouldn't admit I was afraid, but I was worried.

"I'm sorry, but without knowing exactly where it is, I can't. The school's always moving," he frowned. I just nodded in acceptance and left. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all! I have this horrible feeling in my gut that something was going to go wrong and it was going to go wrong really soon. I sat down on my bed in my room and fell backwards. I looked up at my ceiling where barely any shadows existed.

I could tell they were there, but I couldn't get into my second vision. I was too tired anyway. Even if I could slip into it, I might as well stay safe and refuse it. I needed the energy to get to class. Oh, wait, I still need my interview. I sat up, a little too quickly, and grabbed my head. I felt a hand on my back and it steadied me until my view went back to normal. Somehow my gut didn't go back to normal though.

I noticed we weren't in my room anymore. John was still holding me up or else I would've fallen over. I looked around on the hill covered in bright green grass and spotted with groups of flowers of all sorts of colors. The sun was shining brightly down on our faces as he sat down on a rock. I sat down in the grass and twirled the stem of a flower around my finger.

"Why are we here?" I asked. I wondered where we were as well, but I'm not sure he cared to tell me.

"According to Sage, Aqua, and Ember, there's some sort of evil presence in your home and I had to take you away from there." He looked up at a cloud and didn't notice me scowling at him. If we had to get away, why didn't he bring me to school? Damn it! I need to find out about that bomber and now that stupid illness! Not to mention all of them not related to school such as getting a better rematch with Ben, without the funny wall things, figuring out what the hell was going on with me, fighting with the elements to do whatever that one thing said I should, figure out what that one thing was, figure out why it could mask its powers and sound like it was everywhere at once, and so on and so forth.

"And why don't we just go up to my school where I could do the teacher one better than giving her a written interview and show her that Sage is still alive, somewhat healthy, and get into the hero class," I asked. I snapped my jaw shut when I said that. John looked at me curiously then started to chuckle under his breath. He was the first person who knew that I was a sidekick. Shit, why did I say that?

"If you really want to go, I can take you, but I don't advise it. My sources say that the school is nearly empty of all kids because of some sickness." I remembered seeing my ex-teammate shaking on the bed as four others around her were sicker than she. I remembered the first boy, he looked familiar somehow. Like I had seen him before, but I don't remember where.

"You're sources are nearly right, but I know there is one boy who isn't affected and I want a– a word with him," I smirked. Ben was going down, and I was the one who was going to take him there, without powers.

"Who," John asked.

"Ben, Ben Rogers," I answered plainly. "I want a rematch."

"Ben Rogers, you mean Mad Hat had a son?" John asked. He looked away from the sky and down at me with concern.

"Not only that, but his father wants to teach me. As if I'd ever re-learn everything and waste my time training." I rolled my eyes. Like hell he was going to train me! I nearly got killed and all he could come up with was an opening in his schedule to _train me? _He is definitely not worth my time.

"Aren't you afraid he'll attack you?" John asked. I almost wanted lto laugh out loud. Why would I be scared of a loser like him? He couldn't even catch me as I ran right past him!

"No, he is too weak for me to fret over," I smiled darkly. I closed my eyes and fell asleep right then and there. Nothing woke my from my peaceful sleep as I dreamed.

If you enter the dream, you will surely die. Back out now and you will survive long enough for the next chapter. What is it that you wish? To read and die or live and miss out on one of the major key factors in the story to miss seeing what I have in store for our poor Crystal next?

You took too long to decide, its time to die. I mean dream. Wait, no, no I don't.

Crystal stood on the steep precipice overlooking the deep valley below. She could see everything from where she stood. She knew this town. It was her old town, before she could ever sense people's powers or had to run from whatever scared her mother. She was only four when she last stood here, remembering every detail of the valley below as if it were a blackening hole in the ground, disappearing every second she took to study it.

Why was she here? This was the place of her nightmares, the place of her bad dreams. She rested her head against the metal wall behind her. She was completely hidden from the bright sun in the shadows. She looked over the edge again, inspired to see just what had changed when she had looked away, but nothing had. She sighed with dismay and turned to go.

An earthly hand moved out of the ground and grabbed her ankle. She stumbled forward, narrowly missing the edge of the cliff. She turned behind her where three boys were snickering. She felt tears well up in her eyes as the boys laughed at her. The earthly hand hadn't come from them though. It came from someone else.

She looked down at where it had been, but she didn't see any sign of it having changed from the normal ground. She bent down close to it and one of the boys suddenly ran up and grabbed her arm. He slammed her against to cold metal wall and his hot breath sent fear down her spine.

She hid every emotion from her eyes and stared down at him. She watched him carefully as the other two boys ran up to him and held her arms. He bent down and grabbed her legs. With a sudden lift, she was hanging from their grip. They swung her towards the edge and let go. She closed her eyes and waited for the feeling of land to settle under her. She passed out somewhere along the drop.

I sat bolt upright in my room. I looked around at the empty room and wondered how I got here. I felt darkness coming soon and got out from under my covers. I started to the door, but was stopped by the feeling of powers.

I sensed John, Aqua, Sage, and Ember in the living room, but there was something else too. It was that masked power that I couldn't tell from where it came from. I tried to focus on it and at least figured that most of it was in the kitchen, listening to the elements. I quietly opened the door and snuck downstairs, not knowing what I was going to do after that. Was it one of the elements? Could it be air? What was it that the one thing told me to do to air?

"I don't know how we can destroy the orb without alerting the others that it had been stolen," John sighed. They were conspiring to steal something and I wasn't a part of it, jerks.

"Well, it's the only way we can get it," Aqua argued.

"We need some of the other elements before we could even think about getting through. There are power nullifiers, guards every with powers, and different kinds of traps set by A." I heard Sage get up and walked towards the window. Our neighbor's dog was barking loudly which was strange because it never barks.

I tried to slip into my second vision, but I couldn't make it. I tried again, but failed miserably. That thing moved closer into the living room when the dog barked louder. I could sense it getting closer to the elements. I had to stop it. I don't know why, but I didn't trust it at all. Sneaking downstairs was the easy part, but getting around the kitchen was the hard part. It still had part of itself in the kitchen and I wasn't sure where its ears were.

I snuck behind the table just fine, but the thing had moved farther away. I crept up to where it started and waited behind it. It was still moving towards the adults when I grabbed it. On recoil, it sprung back into a human forma and I was grabbing somewhere around the waist. I struggled as it tried to get away from my grip, twisting and contorting into different sizes, but I kept up.

"Who's there?" Ember asked as everyone rushed into the kitchen. No, idiots, you're supposed to run away from this thing! The thing I was holding suddenly threw down the mask and the body of a very pale, silver-haired, woman appeared.

"Long time, no see," it remarked. I still don't trust it so I'm calling it an 'it' and not a 'her'.

"Ariel, it's good to see you," Aqua rushed up and hugged it tightly. Something about her set me on edge. Ariel, the air element, I needed to smother it. I quickly looked around for something to use and saw a pillow from the living room. I grabbed it while everyone else was appraising her for escaping. She said she didn't know how she escaped, but I was going to make sure I knew.

I jumped on her, knocking her onto the floor. Everyone else froze except for Ariel who struggled underneath me. I shoved the pillow into her face as she struggle against it.

"What is wrong with you? She said she'd escaped already!" Ember cried.

"Aqua, you remember how you escaped right? And you remember, too, right Ember?" I asked. They both nodded and got the picture. Ariel stopped moving as ghostly wisps spread around the pillow. None of the other elements could do that. How could–

I jumped out of the way just in time as the thing ate the pillow. It had an unhinged jaw and was cackling evilly. "Very good," it smirked. "But not good enough!" It sent its tendrils after me and grabbed my arms. I was going to scream, but it threw itself into my mouth. I gagged on it as it went down.

"See even this pitiful girl could see through my disguise unlike you freaks, but she was no match for my power. Now you shall all die!" It screamed through me. God, it sounded even weirder when someone else talks through me.

"What have you done to her?" Aqua asked. I could sense her power growing in her. All of them were gathering their strength to fight. I just wanted control over my body back.

Sage was the first to strike. Smashing her hands against the ground as Aqua shot at me. It was freezing cold! (Thus the Ice element but still,) didn't they consider that I was still conscious? Thorny vines wrapped around my legs and cut me open in several spots as the thing inside me laughed through my mouth. I hope they'll pay for the damages in the floor because I don't have enough and I don't want to spend my life in my room. Man, I had a normal life before these powers, well as normal as one could be with superhero parents, but still. Now I was stuck being frozen to death, cut open and bleeding to death, being struck by Ember's fires across my head, and to top it all off, this thing wasn't getting hurt, I was!

"Stop it!" I shouted. I must have broken through the things control because everyone stopped, thank God! My whole body hurts! Again! Why the hell is everyone after me? Damn it, I'm pissed off!

"Stupid girl, you were more powerful as little crying child!" it laughed. Who was it talking to? Was that me? Wait, that dream made me remember falling, but I had survived somehow. I always thought that Mom saved me, but now I'm not so sure it was Mom who saved me. Crap, all the things I thought I knew were being flushed down the drain of my life.

"Child? What do you mean?" Ember asked. Yes, that's what I was going to say! Maybe I can get some answers now!

"Of course you wouldn't remember," it laughed. Okay, maybe it wasn't talking to me. "This pathetic girl was created from all of you!" Maybe it was talking to me. What the hell is going on? "Don't you recognize her?"

"That's D's kid, not ours!" Sage argued.

"Ah, but she has your beautiful spirit, and your burning desire, and your frozen heart," it laughed. Wait, I was related to elements without getting their powers? What a rip off! That liar, he's just trying to stop you from getting him out of me!

"What? But–" Everyone was at a loss of words. Even– where'd John go? I heard a footstep behind me and waited for the blow that would befall onto my already in pain body. It never did, instead I felt the painful jerk in my stomach told me I was going somewhere with John.

He teleported me to the grassy hill with the bright flowers and I grabbed my stomach. Hey, I grabbed my stomach! I was free from that thing! How could I hear it laughing then? I felt a painful blow to my stomach and then my chest as I flew, face first into the dirt. I looked around, but John had left. Another painful blow struck me on the head from somewhere. Damn it! That hurts!

John reappeared on the hill again and I glared at him, without a settled stomach. He grabbed my arm and teleported me again. Somewhere on the trip, I puked. I wasn't sure, but I think letting go of John to puke was a bad idea. I fell onto a metal wall where the hot sun beat down on me. Where the hell was I now? Damn it! I just want to go to school! Wow, I actually want to go to school, awkward.

"Hey, where the hell did you come from?" A boy asked from below me. I looked down and recognized him from my dream. Wow, dreams really do tell the future, unfortunately it was the near future and I was doomed to repeat my past.

"Hey Fred, what's up?" I asked, pretending like falling out of the sky and landing on walls were normal. Something told me he didn't buy it. And he didn't have powers so he didn't know about them either.

"What the hell? How'd you do that?" Fred asked. He seemed a little set back, but I needed sometime to reorganize myself and he was it.

"Depends, where am I?" I asked.

"Why the hell would that matter? Tell me what's going on!" he demanded. Damn, he got smarter since the last time I had met him.

"Okay, okay, I'm one of those evil villains and if you don't tell me where I am I'm going to have to kill you," I lied. It was really funny because he believed it. What a loser!

"We're in– Jefferson," he stuttered. Ah, how cute, he was scared. Maybe I could get my revenge… No, I better stick to the plan and get home. A sensed a flicker of power within him and wondered why he was still powerless, his parents never had told him that they were superheroes, that was easy enough to tell, but this kid was stupid!

"Shit, I was right." It was one of the few times I didn't want to be right.

"But you were a weakling when you were–" I glared at him and shut him up. I looked over the wall and noticed the metal wall casting a shadow over the precipice. Funny, I don't remember the distance between wall and edge being that skinny.

"Hey Fred, help me down," I ordered. He happily obliged to get the chance and run away. "He's not coming back, is he?" I asked the wind that sent a chill done my back.

On one hand, staying up here meant I would be stuck, but I had a very nice view. But something told me I shouldn't stay here for long. I looked down at the ground. It was about the height of my window above the ground. A nearby house gave me hope that I could jump on it, but when I scooted closer to it, there was no way I could reach it. I'll have to jump down, crap.

"Broken leg, here I come," I muttered and jumped down. A metal hand reached out and caught me before I hit the ground and I slid off of it to safety. What the hell was that?

"For one as beautiful as you, you should be trying o become harmed," a soft, deep voice said in a singsong voice.

"What are you poet?" I retorted.

"Alas, I am just a mere image of one, set about in the realms of time," it answered. "But you, you are not an image of my dreams. You are far greater than any one man could dream."

"Flattery will get you no where with me." I really hated when guys do that and now that I have my voice, I could use as many insults as I wanted.

"Ah, but who is using flattery with a woman of your beauty? You shouldn't be flattered, you should be worshiped." The man still hadn't come out from wherever he was hiding, but I could sense his powers in the metal and it was throwing me off from where he really was. I had to focus on the smallest of parts of powers to find him.

"Once again, I'm not in the mood for this. I need to get back to a man named John," I explained. Maybe that will set him off, knowing I'm with someone else.

"John? I have not heard of a John. He must be lucky to be with a woman of such grandeur." I focused on the smallest bit of power that was behind the house on my left. He was back there, behind the house, but his voice was coming from the wall. I wonder if he's a ventriloquist.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked. I started moving slowly towards the house, trying to sound as if I hadn't moved at all.

I was moving as he spoke to me in his singsong voice again. "I am the whisperer of the wind, the movement of metal, the flow of power from you to me," he answered. Yeah, that's so descriptive. I just couldn't resist rolling my eyes.

I turned the corner to see an empty doorway. I checked for him again, his feint power was right behind me. Crap! He grabbed my shoulders and I felt a cold feeling creep up my leg. I struggled to move, but I was stuck to the ground. Is everyone I meet always evil at first nowadays?

"Ah, beauty is a limited word, but you are so much more than that. You are more beautiful than a rose. No, you are more beautiful than a sea of roses and more deadly than their thorns," he whispered in my ear. I tried to turn again, but the cold feeling was already up to my waist. I was like a frozen rock, stuck in the position I was in as the cold feeling started to cover my hands.

"Do not fear, sweet as you may be, we may not be seen here. I will take you to safety, trust in me to keep you safe," he murmured as the cold feeling covered my face and left my frozen in the darkness of my mind. I remember feeling lifted and flown somewhere, but I don't know how or where.

It took several hours of conscious not moving before the cold feeling left my body and I was able to look around. I stretched first and loosened up. I turned behind me, but the man wasn't there. I looked around my new encasement and noticed the black walls and dark carpet. Everything was black, and it was kind of freaking me out.

"Do you like it?" he asked behind me. I turned, but the man was covered in shadow.

"It's black," I frowned. I didn't feel any anger in this room. I could see his lips tug into a smile as he grabbed my wrist.

"You're beauty is too grand for this room. Alas, I must leave you here to be for a short time while I make arrangements for our love to flourish." He went in for a kiss, but I pushed him away, finding my anger.

"Now, hold on a second! I'm not in love! I'm only like fifteen! What the hell do you want from me?" I yelled. He frowned, but I couldn't see any other movement. What the hell was this guy thinking? Was he going to kiss me? I'm in my element and he's trying to put moves on _me_! I just want to find Sam and get the hell out of here! I just want to make sure that she's safe and that we can cure her! "Damn it! Let me out!" I ordered.

"But I cannot. I beauty such as–"

"Shut up!" I interrupted. "I already know what your going to say and I don't want to hear it! Let me out!"

My words had scared him. His movement was stiff and his hands were shaking. "You don't understand. You don't understand. I had foreseen it. I had seen the future. I had seen your death!"

"I don't give a shit! Let me out!" I ordered again. Was nothing getting through to this guy?

"No," he muttered. "I cannot let my dearest to fall in battle!"

"Damn it! Shut the hell up! I'm so sick of you trying to get me to stay! My sister is sick, my mother is sick, my friends are in danger, and I can't do anything to help them from here!" I could feel the tension between us rising as he started to melt away into the floors. I stomped my foot and heard a muffled thud of metal below the carpet. This guy was trying to escape!

I grabbed him arm and pulled him out of the floors, glaring at him with hatred. He coward under it and pulled at my iron grip, but I was too pissed off to care that my nails were cutting him. I felt a sting on my hand where I was grabbing him, but ignored it as the man stuttered. "You–mustn't die. I–I know that–that you will under–understand when you–you and I–"

"Are you going to help me or not?" I demanded. I wasn't even giving this guy a fair trial, but he had already lost to my anger that seemed to build inside me. Come to think of it, I couldn't feel it slowing down. It just kept growing and growing in me. What the hell is wrong with me?

"I mustn't. I can't. I won't. But I must. I should. I–" he stammered. I reached up and slapped some sense into him. A slight red mark was appearing, but it was only faint against how much I had to use to resist hitting him harder.

"Just let me out!" I cried. I hadn't cried for years, so why now? Why couldn't I control my emotions? I was trapped like some animal in a cage, fighting to get out, and–

"You're bleeding," he noticed. I quickly glanced down at our hands, the blood mixing into our systems. I was getting his blood now too? Damn it, why the hell can't my life be normal!

"So are you, now are you going to let me out or not?" I asked again, trying to regain control over the tears that were flooding to my eyes.

"Yes, yes, if dearest of beauty wants it, I will let her go." He sighed. He was still trembling and I felt really sorry for him, but I needed to get out and find John. "Let the darkness guide you and you shall not fail, goodbye, Witch."

The room went completely dark as I tried to yell out to him. He was in love with my mom and thought I was her! What the hell, he was in love with my mom! Gross! And she's already married! Yuck! He almost kissed me! I can't believe he almost kissed me! That's so gross! That was so disgusting! And now I can't see a thing! What the hell is going on?

A sudden jerk threw me onto the warm, sunny grass of the Sky High front lawn. What the hell just happened? I looked around at the crowded space and guessed that it was lunch. Everyone was staring at me as I gave them a sheepish smile and ran inside. I had to get to Sam. Something inside me told me she was weakening quickly and that I might lose her.

I stopped when I felt a flicker of her power struggle against the sickness. She wasn't in the nurse's office. She was at class, but she was sick! I quickly snuck down to the hallway I had never been and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to be down here. I ducked behind a corner whenever a teacher walked by.

It took me a lot longer to get down there than I had hoped and it took me down so many levels that I didn't even know the school had. I almost got caught hiding at least three, maybe four, times. Thankfully, it was getting dark down in these lower levels and I was practicing using my power to be sneaky. Once again, thankfully, my powers weren't on the fritz.

It took me even longer to find an empty room. I needed the practice and I saw it on TV so I tried to make a portal on the wall. After several, as in somewhere around the twenties, I was able to make a portal going into the room Sam was in. I stuck out my head and wondered why the room was light, but there were no lights on. Could I see in the night now? God, I really need a guide to help me with this.

"Witch?" Sam asked. I looked around at all of the kids sleeping soundlessly, their chest barely rising up and down to show any life.

"Sam? Sam, where are you?" I asked. There was just nothing right with this scene. I saw her raise her hand and I jumped out of the portal. I ran to her and stopped at the side of her bed.

"You can talk again," Sam smiled weakly.

"Sam, why are all these kids here? What's making you sick? Is it curable?" I asked.

Her magic flickered to life for a millisecond when she raised her hand to her forehead. "I don't have my powers," Sam frowned. She didn't seem to hear me at all and that made me more worried.

"Sam, we'll get you out of here and–" I looked around at all the kids who were sleeping and frowned. I couldn't possibly get all of them out, could I?

"No, spell, powers, control, control, control," Sam repeated until her body went limp. Only her eyes showed that she was still awake.

"Sam, please stop it! We'll get you out of here," I whispered loudly. A silhouette stopped outside the door and turned to it. "Come on Sam, let's go!" I tried to pick her up, but she was too heavy. I quickly shut the portal and ducked under her bed. The sheets were just long enough to cover me.

I heard the door creak open and my heart raced. Why could I trust anyone here? They were so nice and now my gut said run away. I had to know why. I risked a peek out from under the bed and saw a weird band across the forehead of Mrs. Powers. Our principle has been put under an evil spell by some weird maniac and by the looks of their blank faces; it's either a mind-wipe or an utter control band that pretty much kills the spirits of whoever wears it, or both.

I ducked under as Mrs. Powers walked over to Sam's bed and fixed the blankets. Sam seemed to struggle against them, but she wasn't strong enough. How could I help her? She was so sick and these people were taking care of and yet they were hurting her and she wanted to leave. I needed to know what's going on before I could leave the school. That should at least get me some ideas on a vaccine or cure or anything that could help.

Mrs. Powers left the room and locked it behind her. Bad part on her side, I smiled. She didn't know that I could make portals so that should be easy enough to escape with Sam. I rolled out from underneath the bed and straightened myself out. Sam was unconscious and her hair was covering most of her face. She seemed to be so quiet and peaceful, and I had to take her from that? I had to take her away from the only place to keep her alive? What if there was some sort of distance limit where if I got her too far away then she'd die? Could I risk that for my sister?

As I was busy thinking, I forgot about the other kids who weren't as asleep as they appeared. I heard blankets ruffle and felt their power flare inside of them. I didn't turn fast enough to dodge Mini-wolverine as he slashed at me. I thought of only darkness and shadows. Think only darkness and shadows!

The blades past through me harmlessly and I opened my eyes to inspect the damage. My shirt was thrashed, but not my skin, thank heavens. I quickly grabbed Mini-wolverine's arms and slammed him against the wall. I looked at all of the other students whose headbands were gleaming cold silver. Crap, how do I get myself into these things! I just can't seem to get away! God, why doesn't anybody just leave me alone for a few hours?

I glanced over as an ice-princess, a fire boy, a bomb boy, a shape-shifting girl, Warren, Will, Layla, Magenta, Ethan, Zach, Ala, and, shit! They have my friends! Okay, that is crossing the line! I didn't care what whoever-was-behind this did but taking over the few people who were actually nice to me was taking things too far.

I quickly jumped over them and grabbed Zach's and Layla's headbands. They tugged and came off easily. Perfect, they haven't been shaped to fit the head yet. This shouldn't be too hard, right? I grabbed Magenta's and Ethan's before they could even turn around. They dropped onto their knees and hugged their heads with their palms like Layla and Zach. I hoped I didn't hurt them much–

Warren threw fireballs at me and I was thrown against the wall. Damn it, I need someone with some sort of metal powers to take these headbands off. I'm just shadows! I jumped over Will as he tried to punch me and I grabbed his headband. Warren and the ice-princess had teamed up and each of them aimed at me. Weren't they powers going to cancel out? Instead, Warren threw his fireball and Icy wrapped her ice around it. Shit, this looks painful. I flinched, having no way to go around it or under it.

Nothing happened. What the hell? Am I too weak now to take on a blast from fire and ice? I opened my eyes to see a frozen, burnt tree. I looked over to Layla and saw her smiling at me in gratitude. I smiled at her, thankful that she had helped, and turned back to the fight. Warren was focusing another blast, trying to time it right with Icy. I quickly duck a bomb and grabbed as many headbands as I could get. I must have gotten ten before Warren and Icy threw another blast at me.

I flinched again, still not sure how to escape. I felt a cold wind wrap around me and then a warm sun beat down on my back. Wait, sun, but I was in the middle of a windowless room! I opened my eyes to the bright sunshine of the grassy hill and wondered why I had come here. I looked above me at the waiting portal and jumped back through.

It disappeared under me as I landed gracefully onto the ground. Warren and Icy were already preparing another blast as I ducked and dodged my way up to them. I grabbed Warren's headband, but I missed Icy as she threw a series of ice balls at me. I swore as each one just barely missed me.

Warren dropped to his knees and I jumped over Icy again, this time grabbing her headband. More heroes and sidekicks alike were getting their headbands pulled off by Will, Layla, Zach, Ethan, Magenta, Warren (once he got up), and, shit where's Ala?

I looked around and saw her black form as she dove at me. I ducked under her, but her headband was nowhere to be seen. Shit, what the hell was I supposed to do with that?

I ducked under her again and grabbed her. I held her wings closed as she tried to get free and made sure that she couldn't get away. She changed back into her human form and I quickly pulled off the headband before she changed back. How many students were there in this room? I looked at the door as a bunch of silhouettes told me too many to free and I quickly focused my power on making a portal to my house.

It opened and I poked my head outside and into my room. Okay, it was safe enough. I pulled it out and practically shoved everyone through it. Even the kids who still had headbands were pushed through and then removed. Why couldn't things just be normal, just once?

I jumped through and into my crowded room filled with confused people. I quickly ran over my bed and to the door when a loud crash sounded in the kitchen. Fuck, I forgot that that one thing was downstairs. And just look how many bodies it could possess, fuck! What the hell was I thinking? Now I really am going nuts to think it would ever be safe in my house!  
"Where are we?" one of the girls asked. I noticed she was the girl who could detect electricity and frowned. Should I talk to them or not, would they freak out because I could?

"We're at Crystal's house," Warren answered for me.

"Thank you," I mouthed and opened the door. I made sure that no one left my room and snuck downstairs. John wasn't there, but I knew he was safe. Sage and Aqua were fighting the thing directly as Ember didn't move. Was she unconscious? I remembered her motherly voice and, admittedly, missed it.

Sage and Aqua smashed that thing through the dining table and I wondered how long they had been fighting it. It's shifting form took the shape of a bird and tried to fly towards one of our windows, but it couldn't get away fast enough and instead swerved and dove at Aqua. Fuck, I just brought all of these heroes to my room!

I rushed downstairs and used my new-found strength over darkness to actually make the room pitch black. Wow, this is a very sweet power! I could see as if it were still as bright as day and quickly grabbed a bottle from the kitchen as all of the people in the living room were stunned.

Sage didn't wait as long as everyone else and grabbed the bird form. It changed into a fly and I jumped off her back and caught it in the jar. It buzzed noisily, but I didn't let it out. It changed into several different things as I breathed in, the darkness following my breath.

"There," I breathed heavily. "Now, I got like thirty kids upstairs who need some sort of help for the sickness. Sam's one of them and I have to go back there."

"What? You were only gone for half an hour and you already saved thirty kids? From where did you get these kids?" Aqua asked.

"School," I shrugged, knowing that I Was going to be yelled at later. I started walking upstairs, still holding the jar with the thing inside.

"Crystal, we heard crashing, what's going on downstairs?" Will asked.

"I got it." I held up the bottle as kids screamed, gasped, frowned, smiled, gaped, and all other assortments of expressions to show shock and fear. The thing changed several times, trying to break through the glass.

Only a cough from Sam interrupted the silence. "Who's downstairs?" She coughed again.

"Sage and Aqua, be careful I think Ember's been–" I felt a flare come from her power and rolled my eyes, "never mind. She's okay."

"Sage? As in the element of nature?" Layla exclaimed excitedly. She shot down the stairs before I could do anything and barely managed to get out of her way. Everyone else followed her, not believing that an element that had been missing for so many years had finally come back. And I know that won't believe the story I told them.

I heard a lot of questions and laughed quietly as Sage, Aqua, and Ember tried to control the flow. Good luck to them, because they need it. I pushed and shoved my way through the crowd. Finally getting to the three grown woman who were looking to me for help, I stepped on a chair that only had its back broken off.

"Everybody," I started. "Shut up!" It was funny to see their reactions to my straight out demand, but it got through to them nonetheless. "Yes, I know everyone wants to ask the same questions, but now isn't the time. Our school is in danger! Those of you who can heal or feel sick or can't use their powers, stay here. The rest of you, follow me!"

I walked up the stairs and into my room again. Focusing on the wall, I made another portal. Damn, this is wearing me out really fast! I made sure I could sense each kid's power before I let them through. Several of them were trying to fake like being healthy and I sent them back down. Not very many knew I had the power to sense others.

I followed after them and saw that this wasn't the place I had wanted to go to. I was back in the black room where that guy tried to hit on me. Damn, how'd I get this place out of thinking about Sky High? I glanced around quickly at the confusion of the others and quickly remade my portal. I poked my head through it this time and saw the dark room that I had fought them all in. Yep, this was the place to be.

Everyone filed after, into the portal. I hesitated, wanting to apologize for my behavior earlier. He wasn't there but I could sense his power in the metal along the floor. A slight bump in the carpet told me he was still there, but he wasn't going out. I couldn't reach through the carpet so I just shrugged and waved goodbye before jumping through my portal. The room was still as light as day for me, but the kids were having problems finding their way. At least no one was trying to claw their way through the door.

"What are we going to do now?" Layla asked. "We need a plan."

"An intelligent one," Will added.

"I don't know. You're the heroes. I'm just a sidekick remember?" I wonder if they actually did remember. With all these new psychotic powers, will I still be a sidekick after this?

"There must be something about those bands," Warren frowned and picked one up. There was nothing on the inside or outside, but I could sense the shadows inside it. It's hollow, but something had to do something with it.

"I don't know," I bit my lower lip, thinking. I needed to get the bands off of everyone, stop whoever was doing this, write my interview, solve the bomber, and everything else. My checklist is overflowing! Crap, what am I going to do?

"We have to find the person control," Magenta frowned.

"Yeah, and that is…" Zach wondered.

"I know!" I actually did have a pretty good idea about what's going on. Where would someone go for a position of power in the twisted hallways of this school? Here's a hint: Mrs. Powers' isn't in her office. "They're in the office."

"I know the way, let's go," Will tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"How about I do it?" I suggested. I didn't remember where the office was in this weird school so I had to follow him. I touched the lock and felt the darkness in it push the door open. God, I love these new powers! I opened the door and held it open as everyone ran out. Amazingly, these kids jumped onto a teacher and pinned him. There was no band on his forehead though. Wait a second… if there's no band, and he's laughing gleefully, thus showing emotion… who else is here that has broken free?

"I'm so glad to see you kids made it out okay," Mr. Boy exclaimed.

"Keep a hold of him," I ordered. Something wasn't right about this guy, and not the normal unusualness that comes with him.

"But I'm your teacher!" he protested. "Come on Cassie, let me go."

I saw 'Cassie' shaking her head. "My name's Jenny!"

I walked over and bent down next to him. He was still laughing insanely when I slid my finder over his forehead. A slight bump sent shivers down my back. "Fuck, it's closing inside his skull! It's permanent! We have to hurry!" I shouted orders. "I want five kids watching him and he will come with us. Someone with the power to shut him up, please do."

They were actually following my orders, sweet! Five kids surrounded Mr. Boy and two of them held his arms tightly. He wasn't very strong, but he never really showed his power. Being careful is better than being risky right now. There were too many chances that the next corner would have a stronger teacher around it.

Will led the way and I grabbed his shoulder whenever someone or something passed, I wasn't quite sure if it could be like that fly in the jar in my room. I grabbed his shoulder when Mr. Medula walked by and I had to watch because I was the only one who could see through the dark as his nose size change and grew and then shrank. It made my stomach roll the way it changed, boiling into the new form. Gross isn't a big enough word for how bad I wanted to vomit.

"It's safe," I said once I got my stomach under control.

It wasn't long after that when our entourage of superpower heroes-to-be made it to the office. I sensed power as I passed a doorway and recognized Ben's. Fuck, what's he got to do with this? I told everyone to go on without me and I reached down to unlock the door. Why the hell was Ben here? Was his father behind this? Was he under that control? My stomach rolled at this and my heart pounded. No, no, I shouldn't be worried, it will be easy to take off the headband.

I opened the door and saw Ben laying in a mass of burnt and torn flesh, blood spilling from his body. "Emotion is a weakness," I told myself and cleared my mind of him. It didn't stop nagging at me when I turned to look around the room. No one was in the room. The sounds and smells were completely gone from this room. Nothing stirred except for the shallow, dying breaths of Ben.

I let my feeling flood me and I ran with tears in my eyes towards Ben. I grabbed his hand and tried to put his body back in order, but even if I could have healed the broken bones, it would be too painful and draining for me. I've seen how healers don't exactly heal, but share the pain or even take all of the pain as the healer sends magic through the person.

"But I have to help him!" my heart protested.

"It would be way too draining," my mind answered calmly.

"He's going to die!"

"It's his time. We can't do anything to help him now."

"No! I won't let him die!" My heart pounded in my chest and I touched his bloodied, scarred face to brush away some hair. Tears were flooding my vision and the argument inside me was deafening my ears. I didn't want to let him die. I didn't want to let him die! He won't die!

The tears that were flooding my eyes blinded my vision and the argument inside of me deafened me. I never knew when anyone came in, but I felt a hand grabbed my shoulder and I wiped away the tears. It wasn't his time to die and I would give up anything to let him live again.

"Let him go," his father said in my ear.

"No! No! I can't! I won't leave him," I cried. I knew what he wanted, but now he can never have what he wants. He killed his son! His own son was dead! A tear landed on my neck and rolled down my back like a soothing fire.

"He's too mangled to live. The best we can do is put him out of his misery." Another tear dropped on my back and I regretted calling his father a killer. It wasn't his fault that his son was dead.

"I would give anything just to let him live," I whispered, my voice weak from the knot in my throat. How can he be dead? He almost beat me at fighting! He should have been able to beat whoever his opponent was! He should have been able to! Damn it! Why did he have to go? Why didn't he say goodbye to me? Damn it! Answer me Ben! Answer me!

I heard Ben's father walk out of the room and I buried my face into Ben's bloodied shirt. Everything, all the pain and sorrow I had held inside of me burst forth with incomparable strength and flooded my senses with sadness. I cried into the stiff shirt and I couldn't stop the flow of tears. I didn't want to stop the flow. I wanted to cry. I didn't want all of this sadness inside of me to be kept there anymore. Why did he have to die? Why couldn't I have taken his place? I would give up anything just to be with him now! Anything just to see his smiling face!

"You're crying," Ben murmured. I looked up with hopeful eyes that Ben was still alive, but his eyes were closed and his features didn't even move to show his shallow breathing.

"Ben?" I tried to ask. It didn't come out. I could only mouth the words I needed to say. I had lost my voice, again, but if it would bring back Ben, then I don't care. I didn't care about anything but bringing back Ben. I- I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I love him. I love him more than anything in the world. He's stronger than me. He should have been able to take out whatever that thing was. Nothing was going to get in my way for getting my revenge. _Nothing_.

I stood up, half of my face soaked with tears and Ben's blood. I turned towards the door and blasted it open as I walked through it. I kept going as students and teachers, under control or free, were blasted against the wall. All I felt was the anger for whoever killed Ben. I swept my hand as the crowd I had once led was nothing but scattered toys, being held against the wall as I kept walking. I don't care who killed Ben, it was going to die.

I burst open the door to Mrs. Powers office to see an empty room. My power threw everything about as I left the room to find another one. I blasted open door after door, tore up room after room, looking for Ben's killer. None of the rooms had anyone or anything of importance in it. I tore them up in seconds. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned, slamming whoever it was on the far wall. Will struggled to breathe as I turned back around and heard him collapse onto the floor. Nothing would get in her way.

"Wait, Crystal stop it!" Will yelled. I didn't turn. I knew what he would try and made a wall of solid darkness behind me. His voice was a muffled yell as he tried to break through it. I slammed another door against the wall of the room it held and looked around.

This room had students in it, all with metal bands on their heads and moving towards me. I pulled them off of their heads without lifting a finger and slammed them against the wall. Nobody was here who could have killed Ben. I left, not caring about the students who moaned and complained about their hurt heads of bruised backs.

Another room, nothing, another, still nothing, damn it! This was taking too long! I surged my power and smashed open every single door in the hallway all at once. A light was on in the far one and I walked over to it. A yellow orb hung in the air for a few seconds after I walked in. It's quarter size grew and dropped to the ground revealing a man who, if I wasn't so pissed off, I might have noticed his power.

"Ah, it's good to see the vagabond is back," he smiled coldly.

I realized who it was by his voice, though it was a lot more cool and calm then it was before. I ignored his smile and mouthed, "Ben."

"Ben? You mean that boy who tried to fight my strength with his mind? Ah, he put up quite a fight when I tore open every sensitive nerve and pressure point. But he was like you, someone who underestimated my power. I can't be killed, no matter where you hit for my pressure points, girly." He snickered. "But you can't talk, can you? You can't say anything to stop me. And that's where you fail and I succeed. You depend too much about talking. Already, I have ripped open your chest and a line of blood is appearing on your shirt."

I could feel it. The blazing pain on my chest, but I didn't care. I pulled the darkness into the room and shorted out the power from the shadows in the wall. I smashed him against the wall, feeling nothing but hatred. He was supposed to be killed for what he had done to me, and now he had hurt Ben! He was going to pay for what he did, no matter what happened to me.

I threw him against another wall and smashed him through the desk without moving my feet. My arms were controlling where he was going to go in the dark room where I had all the power. I slammed him against another wall, knocking papers loose and stopping the thumbtacks from hitting the ground. He will die.

I threw the thumbtacks into and threw his neck. His blood spattered on the wall behind him as his skin filled in the holes that I had made. I pulled to thumbtacks free and shot at him again. I dug threw his heart, his neck, and his skull. He couldn't survive threw that, but somehow his skin filled in the holes.  
He reached a flashlight and shined it at me. My power drained away in the light and I dropped his form. He started laughing as he walked over to the light switch and turned it on; fixing the wires I had cut with darkness. The light flicked on and I felt weak under it. I wanted to drop to my knees and hide from the bright light that was weakening me.

"I know your powers. Your weakness, your hopes, your dreams, your strength, I know all about you. You can't fight me. I will win this fight just as I had with your boyfriend." I could feel my skin tearing off of my arms and I wanted to scream from the pain, but I had no voice to scream with. I had nothing, because he had taken it away.

_He WILL die._


End file.
